Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,090 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,763,000. Cadence Bank increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 2,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,634,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $518.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $473.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $508.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $545.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.