Ballast Inc. Decreases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Ballast Inc. reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 113 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.4% of Ballast Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in 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 valued at $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.16.

Get Our Latest Analysis on UNH

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE UNH opened at $566.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $584.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $533.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $608.63. The firm has a market cap of $522.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.70%.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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