Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 307,432 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 135,627 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $95,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Caitlin John LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,324,000. Wealth Effects LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 48.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 target price on UnitedHealth Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $330.61 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $299.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $341.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.98. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $606.36.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.