UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 97.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.6% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $306.90. 11,176,139 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,300,839. The business's 50-day moving average price is $370.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $467.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, 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 will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

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

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.