Richwood Investment Advisors LLC Sells 244 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,305 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.6% of Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,802,231,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,787,768 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,934,895,000 after acquiring an additional 341,749 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,984,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,143,004,000 after purchasing an additional 141,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,757,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,902,829,000 after purchasing an additional 352,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $521.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,146,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,195,287. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $487.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $510.99. 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 fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.