Somerset Trust Co Raises Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Somerset Trust Co raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,573 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $480,903,000. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,380,661,000 after buying an additional 587,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $510.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $551.50 and its 200 day moving average is $562.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

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.