Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.6%, now holding approximately 5.2% of its portfolio in the healthcare conglomerate.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Revolve Wealth Partners LLC, significantly increased their stakes in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter, suggesting growing confidence in the stock.
• UnitedHealth Group's stock experienced various analyst rating changes, with one sell rating, nine hold ratings, and fifteen buy ratings; the average price target now stands at $392.29.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,073,932 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 56,362 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 5.2% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.23% of UnitedHealth Group worth $1,086,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 3,642 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 5.3%

NYSE:UNH traded down $13.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $236.40. The company had a trading volume of 30,837,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,921,978. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $235.70 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.80 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $351.00 to $306.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $373.52.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.