Arjuna Capital Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Arjuna Capital decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,904 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the first quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 5,900 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake 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 period. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 122,145 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $63,973,000 after buying an additional 4,871 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of UNH opened at $323.36 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $622.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $292.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid 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 yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.14%.

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.