UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by CX Institutional

CX Institutional grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 52.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,565 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 5,712 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $303.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $275.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $399.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.