Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Has $7 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,361 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,368 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $354,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE UNH traded down $7.53 on Wednesday, hitting $300.17. 5,802,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,584,934. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $320.63 and a 200 day moving average of $444.69. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $272.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company 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 last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.