Simmons Bank Sells 946 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Simmons Bank reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,595 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 946 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $5,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $308.69 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company's fifty day moving average price is $324.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $447.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $280.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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