Argent Trust Co Acquires 304 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.8% of Argent Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $18,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $237.40 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $296.86 and its 200 day moving average is $415.36. The firm has a market cap of $215.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current 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 issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

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.