Covenant Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Covenant Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 92.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 619 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 7,114 shares during the quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $394.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $5.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $282.45. The stock had a trading volume of 14,902,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,818,498. The firm has a market cap of $256.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company's 50 day moving average price is $304.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $432.89.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS 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 dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 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.