Scotia Capital Inc. Lowers Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Scotia Capital Inc. lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 460,027 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 10,909 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.3% of Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $240,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Citizens National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $277,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $39,413,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $373.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $237.40 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $296.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.