Bleakley Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,830 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,264 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in 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 valued at $4,346,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho decreased 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 note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $8.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $291.81. 15,918,599 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,759,350. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year 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 0.71. The company has a market cap of $264.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $312.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.47.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 yield of 3.03%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

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.