Canoe Financial LP Sells 90,968 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Canoe Financial LP reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 321,051 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 90,968 shares during the quarter. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $110,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in 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 last quarter. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 69.4% during the 2nd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 105 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Leerink Partners set a $410.00 price objective on UnitedHealth Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $327.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $296.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $606.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $334.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently 46.14%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.