Schnieders Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Schnieders Capital Management LLC reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.0%, selling 1,352 shares and holding 12,114 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• Institutional investors hold 87.86% of UnitedHealth Group's stock, with several firms, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., significantly increasing their stakes during the first quarter.
• UnitedHealth Group's quarterly earnings report showed a miss on earnings per share estimates, posting $4.08 compared to the expected $4.45, alongside a 12.9% year-over-year revenue growth.

Schnieders Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,114 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,352 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.4% of Schnieders Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Schnieders Capital Management LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in 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 worth $4,346,712,000 after buying an additional 2,301,010 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $198.00 price objective (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5%

UNH stock traded up $6.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $250.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,146,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,404,546. The company has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $291.78 and its 200-day moving average is $406.82.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 3.5%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 38.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.