UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,998 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,132 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $10.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $615.81. 3,875,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,660,167. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $566.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $619.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.03.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.56 EPS. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.