New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Has $22.53 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,020 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.8% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $22,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 18.3% in the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the first quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC now owns 4,882 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 68.6% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 499 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.1% during the first quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% during the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,534 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE UNH opened at $307.50 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. 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 capitalization of $278.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $320.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $444.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were 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 was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Baird R W downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reduced their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $415.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.