Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 11,960 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 286,857 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 11,960 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $150,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northstar Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.4% during the first quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 628 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,580 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,446,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Stewardship Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 11,298 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $5,917,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $426.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $313.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $386.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.

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