TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 37.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 943 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $306.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $278.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $370.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $467.96. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

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.