UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is Conning Inc.'s 3rd Largest Position

Conning Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,230 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 11,437 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.5% of Conning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Conning Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $41,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the business'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 now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.4%

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $7.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $309.86. The stock had a trading volume of 4,448,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,406,295. The company has a market capitalization of $281.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $339.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $456.28.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. 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 2.85%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 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.