Mackenzie Financial Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.7%, selling 67,177 shares and now owning 628,768 shares valued at approximately $329.3 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in UnitedHealth Group, including Brio Consultants LLC and University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co., with increases of 75.9% and 757.0% respectively.
• UnitedHealth Group announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, raising its annualized dividend payout to $8.84 with a yield of 3.15%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 628,768 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 67,177 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $329,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. Brio Consultants LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 75.9% in the first quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 757.0% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 857 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,979 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.4% in the first quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 58,738 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $30,764,000 after buying an additional 5,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $8,360,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $392.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of UNH opened at $280.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.22. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $254.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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