UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,108 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,572 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $22,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keb Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,013,000. Waycross Partners LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 33,795 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,700,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,386,274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,821,061,000 after buying an additional 103,160 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,644 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elgethun Capital Management increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.7% in the first quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 7,483 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the director owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $245.59 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $222.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $293.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $410.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change 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 38.30%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.