Manhattan West Asset Management LLC Buys 312 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,297 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth $521,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 249.4% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 99,084 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $51,895,000 after buying an additional 70,724 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 26.7% during the first quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,865,000. Finally, Morton Community Bank boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 8,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $366.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their position. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $250.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $291.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.82. The firm has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.