Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,030 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.1% of Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,869,320,000 after purchasing an additional 107,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.6 %

UNH opened at $542.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $499.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $536.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.14. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned 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 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.