Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $2.99 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sentry Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,679 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 1.3% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 701,165 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $369,142,000 after buying an additional 56,694 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,551 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,028,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,586 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $7.53 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $446.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,863,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,147. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The firm has a market cap of $411.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $492.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $516.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.7 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.54%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $573.80.

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.