Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 4,496 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,615,053 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 4,496 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.0% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.29% of UnitedHealth Group worth $1,369,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

UNH traded up $6.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $308.85. 13,584,804 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,465,895. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year 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 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $336.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.51.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, 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 company also recently announced 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 represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.