Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 104 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 846 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after buying an additional 121,180 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $474.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $516.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $557.16. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $437.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

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.