Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $3.60 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4%, selling 1,059 shares and now holding 6,866 shares valued at approximately $3.6 million.
• UnitedHealth Group reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations of $5.16.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $2.21 per share from the previous $2.10, representing an annualized yield of 3.39%.

Howard Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,866 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,059 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 360 Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% in the first quarter. 360 Financial Inc. now owns 1,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 22.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 295 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 57.9% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 15,350 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $8,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $7,202,000. Finally, Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $338,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders 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 owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $5.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.43. 22,302,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,886,933. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.36. The company has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $248.88 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.16 by ($1.08). The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during 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%. The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. 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.