Sierra Capital LLC Sells 2,757 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sierra Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 60.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,757 shares during the quarter. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $303.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $322.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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 business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.