Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Trims Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,675 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,905,000. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 152,107 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $75,247,000 after buying an additional 45,173 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 72,689 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,126,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $564.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $583.52 and its 200 day moving average is $537.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.