UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by STAR Financial Bank

STAR Financial Bank cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 931 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 45,088 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,808,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 23,193 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,732,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $394.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $282.45 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $433.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $256.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.