Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $152.87 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 318,057 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 490,700 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $152,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,001 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,381 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the first quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 533 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Cahaba Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,890 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 21st. UBS Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $520.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $587.00 to $579.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. HSBC assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $540.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $578.30.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $539.82 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $553.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $518.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $498.12. The firm has a market cap of $499.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.23. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.58% and a net margin of 6.02%. The business had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.79 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total transaction of $65,688,578.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,084,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value of $65,688,578.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 521,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,084,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total transaction of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,017,173.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.