Freedom Investment Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,416 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 691 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 85,881 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $50,213,000 after buying an additional 2,746 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 3rd 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 period. Thematics Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 8,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,227,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,084,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.1 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $606.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $557.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $583.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $554.65.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

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.