Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. Sells 295 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,504 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 21.7% of Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $21,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,942 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,918,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 11,533 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,705,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Consulting Group increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 593 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 6,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 27.5% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,267 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on UNH shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 4.7 %

NYSE UNH opened at $509.26 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $498.34 and its 200 day moving average is $501.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.72 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.34%.

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.