Ninety One UK Ltd Trims Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 78,938 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $82,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reduced their target price 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. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $5.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $302.08. The stock had a trading volume of 12,778,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,629,597. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business's 50 day moving average is $320.63 and its 200-day moving average is $444.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $274.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is an increase 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 2.93%. 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.