HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 15,854 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.8%, owning 573,786 shares valued at approximately $300 million after purchasing an additional 15,854 shares.
• UnitedHealth Group reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates by $0.37, with revenue of $111.62 billion, which was slightly below expectations.
• Insider purchasing activity included Director Kristen Gil acquiring 3,700 shares and CFO John F. Rex buying 17,175 shares, signaling confidence in the company's future performance.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 573,786 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 15,854 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of UnitedHealth Group worth $300,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 3,642 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Mizuho cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $9.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $261.59. The company had a trading volume of 12,160,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,478,328. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $402.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $237.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.43.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.80 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.