Perigon Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,606 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased 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 now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $302.19 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $342.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.07. The company has a market capitalization of $274.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year 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.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNH. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

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.

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