Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 5,921 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,438 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 5,921 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.9% of Arizona State Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $143,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $9,368,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $277,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,413,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Mizuho reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $337.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE UNH traded up $4.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $303.81. 9,789,082 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,687,343. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $314.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $440.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $275.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.