Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,020 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,734 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.5% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Islay Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.4% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 105 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $341.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $309.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $339.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.07. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $606.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.14%.

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.