Markel Group Inc. Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,014 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $14,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 168.0% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the first quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 2,139 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,648 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,529,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 23.5% during the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 305,409 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $159,958,000 after buying an additional 58,196 shares during the period. Finally, Members Trust Co increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.2% during the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 1,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $394.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $5.62 on Friday, reaching $282.45. 14,902,160 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,804,385. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $306.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $434.93. The firm has a market cap of $256.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. 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 3.13%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 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.