New World Advisors LLC Purchases 74 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New World Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. New World Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cvfg LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Cvfg LLC now owns 489 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,733 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $181,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 178.6% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,776 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth $8,818,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $302.19 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $342.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.07. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $274.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.