Community Trust & Investment Co. Boosts Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,185 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 2.0% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $30,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $277,641,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,413,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.8%

UNH stock opened at $307.84 on Tuesday. 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 $279.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $381.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.20.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.