UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Cut by Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lowered its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,398 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,437 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This represents 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 purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.6%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $252.44 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $290.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $403.22.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS 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 a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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.