Rathbones Group PLC Trims Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 7.3% during Q1, now holding 220,134 shares valued at approximately $115.3 million.
• Insider activity included CEO Patrick Hugh Conway selling 589 shares, representing a 5.36% decrease in his position, while CFO John F. Rex increased his holdings by acquiring 17,175 shares.
• UnitedHealth Group's recent quarterly earnings were $4.08 per share, missing analysts' estimates, with a concurrent declaration of a quarterly dividend increase to $2.21.

Rathbones Group PLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,134 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 17,261 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $115,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $366.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $9.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $261.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,160,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,478,328. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $289.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $402.24. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

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.