Invst LLC Lowers Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Invst LLC trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,389 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Invst LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $441.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $295.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $452.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

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.