Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 172.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,772 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.6% of Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BluePointe Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $307,000. LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 11,328 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $5,933,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 966.1% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 523,920 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $274,403,000 after buying an additional 474,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 6,516 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,413,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird lowered UnitedHealth Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $414.35.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $293.54. 5,563,484 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,751,176. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $310.37 and its 200-day moving average is $437.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 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.