Postrock Partners LLC Sells 59 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Postrock Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Postrock Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $291.81 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $264.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $310.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $437.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for 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 in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.