UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,147 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 15,883 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $21,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,346,712,000 after buying an additional 2,301,010 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,128,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,257,131,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $237.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.36. The company has a market cap of $215.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $351.00 to $306.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $373.52.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.