Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 108,689 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Jensen Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 15.2%, selling 108,689 shares to hold 607,378 shares valued at approximately $318 million.
• Despite the decrease in holdings by Jensen, other institutional investors like Vanguard Group and UBS AM increased their stakes in UnitedHealth Group, indicating continued interest in the company.
• UnitedHealth Group announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $2.21 per share, reflecting a strong dividend payout ratio of 38.30% and a yield of 3.5%.

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,378 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 108,689 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 3.5% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $318,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other 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 acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH traded up $6.07 on Friday, hitting $250.74. The company had a trading volume of 10,146,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,404,546. The company's fifty day moving average price is $291.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.82. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.80 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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.