UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Provident Trust Co.

Provident Trust Co. lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619,376 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 6,769 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 6.1% of Provident Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Provident Trust Co. owned approximately 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $324,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 3,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded down $8.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $291.81. 15,918,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,759,350. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $312.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick 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 the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.