First Personal Financial Services Cuts Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Personal Financial Services decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 596 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 31 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540,538 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.5 %

UNH traded down $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $439.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,229,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,234,786. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $493.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $516.67. The company has a market cap of $405.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $439.46 and a 12-month high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.34 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.75 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $596.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $576.48.

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.