D Orazio & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,639 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 844 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 3.9% of D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $25,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE:UNH opened at $313.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $386.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.