Blair William & Co. IL Has $177.07 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.6% during the first quarter, holding $177.07 million worth of shares at the end of the period.
• CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth, increasing his holdings by 14.63% to approximately $196 million.
• UnitedHealth recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $2.10 to $2.21 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 3.7%.

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,077 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 31,832 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $177,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $3.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $240.94. The company had a trading volume of 17,390,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,268,408. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $218.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $414.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $371.67.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.