Montecito Bank & Trust Has $1.79 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,414 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on UNH shares. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:UNH opened at $313.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $386.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.32.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.