New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $621.73 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,187,067 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 48,807 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.9% of New York State Common Retirement Fund's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.13% of UnitedHealth Group worth $621,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $4.30 on Friday, reaching $303.81. 9,789,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,703,876. The company has a fifty day moving average of $314.52 and a 200-day moving average of $440.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $275.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. On average, 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 declared 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. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.00.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.