Lafayette Investments Inc. Reduces Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,075 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the 4th 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 grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after buying an additional 11,812,017 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,647,433,000 after buying an additional 399,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,210,004,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

Insider Activity

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 value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded up $8.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $501.48. The stock had a trading volume of 2,086,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,491,010. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $515.22. The company has a market cap of $462.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

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.