Leavell Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,272 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 2,568 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Baird R W lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird downgraded UnitedHealth Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $4.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $303.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,789,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,687,343. The business's fifty day moving average is $314.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.88. The stock has a market cap of $275.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders 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 boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.