Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 44.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,820 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 19,576 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,253,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 109,960 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $57,591,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 4,280 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,242,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 52.6% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 16,565 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $8,676,000 after buying an additional 5,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,078,472 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $564,850,000 after purchasing an additional 375,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $7.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $317.64. 9,764,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,114,975. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $248.88 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $395.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.20.

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). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on UNH. Raymond James lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.52.

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.