Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,419 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Bensler LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $12.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $505.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,822,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,515,288. The business’s 50 day moving average is $488.97 and its 200-day moving average is $515.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a market cap of $465.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.74 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.