Clean Yield Group Sells 178 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Clean Yield Group reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,656 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $303.24 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $409.03 and a 200-day moving average of $483.40.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business 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 period last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.