Opinicus Capital Inc. Reduces Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Opinicus Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,168 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after acquiring an additional 250,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.7 %

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

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

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.