UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Freestone Capital Holdings LLC

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 32.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,708 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,391 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,321,000. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 417,624 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $211,259,000 after buying an additional 36,023 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 215,034 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $108,777,000 after buying an additional 47,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $304.02 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 quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $288.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $396.85. The company has a market cap of $275.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.