Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,998 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $9,426,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.7% of Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northstar Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,273,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.0% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,471 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,293,000 after purchasing an additional 3,402 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 41.7% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 265 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 5,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 23.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,614 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,168,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. HSBC reissued 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, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of UNH opened at $303.24 on Monday. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $409.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.60. The firm has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.