Abundance Wealth Counselors Buys 330 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,440 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,233,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.52.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6%

UNH stock opened at $306.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $365.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $278.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.