Lavaca Capital LLC Sells 179 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

14 Dec 2023, 17:40 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Lavaca Capital LLC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Lavaca Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97,436.9% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,029,274,230 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $494,710,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,218,963 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 74,928,539 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,410,478,000 after acquiring an additional 509,633 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after acquiring an additional 764,872 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,079,140 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,379,561,000 after acquiring an additional 140,312 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,546,024 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,410,038,000 after purchasing an additional 444,629 shares in the last quarter. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value of $65,688,578.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,084,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total transaction of $65,688,578.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,084,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 66,081 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.39, for a total value of $36,370,321.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 635,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,788,255.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,094 shares of company stock worth $104,507,072 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $549.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $536.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $505.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $507.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.95 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th were given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 1st. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $596.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $565.00 to $503.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $587.00 to $579.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.05.

Read Our Latest Report on UNH

UnitedHealth Group Profile

(Free Report)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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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