UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 49.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,557 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.0% of Alta Advisers Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 67,586 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $34,189,000 after buying an additional 20,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,110,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $13.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $325.83. 17,631,859 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,456,712. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $452.07.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. 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 firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. 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. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.