Heritage Wealth Partners LLC Sells 140 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Heritage Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,710 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.8% of Heritage Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Heritage Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after buying an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,647,433,000 after buying an additional 399,739 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. Barclays started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price target on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.33.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $494.70. 3,820,008 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,274,309. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $502.66 and a 200 day moving average of $518.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $456.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $445.68 and a 1 year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.