North Star Investment Management Corp. Lowers Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

North Star Investment Management Corp. lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

UNH opened at $313.39 on Monday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $386.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.32. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.