Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires Shares of 20,450 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter, purchasing 20,450 shares valued at approximately $10.71 million.
• Various analysts have downgraded UnitedHealth Group's stock ratings, with target prices lowered to as low as $270.00 by HSBC, reflecting market concerns.
• The company's quarterly dividend was increased to $2.21 per share, boosting the annualized yield to 3.13%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,450 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $10,710,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $373.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $12.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $236.70. The stock had a trading volume of 32,808,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,931,089. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $298.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $418.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $214.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $235.60 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders 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 an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.