Invera Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Invera Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 39.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,726 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.1% of Invera Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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 directly owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $300.37 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $272.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.