New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

by · The Cerbat Gem

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,313,435 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 74,126 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.0% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.14% of UnitedHealth Group worth $767,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during 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 boosted its stake 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 worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $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 in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

View Our Latest Research Report on UNH

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock traded up $3.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $568.02. 188,357 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,888,147. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $582.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $540.65. The firm has a market cap of $524.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

(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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