Carlson Capital Management Sells 1,415 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Carlson Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,524 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.6% of Carlson Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.2% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 16,243 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.1 %

UNH stock opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $456.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $511.11 and a 200-day moving average of $549.15. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.