EdgeRock Capital LLC Sells 180 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

EdgeRock Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,615 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.6% of EdgeRock Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. EdgeRock Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $303.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $275.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $399.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $479.36.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.