Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 35.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,366 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,815 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $127,592,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. MAS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total value of $2,024,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,772,866.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $564.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $595.00 to $603.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. SVB Securities lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $549.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $575.65.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

UNH stock opened at $486.70 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $445.68 and a 12 month high of $558.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $491.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $450.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.92 by $0.22. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 26.72%. The business had revenue of $92.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.65%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.