Morse Asset Management Inc Sells 957 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Morse Asset Management Inc lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 957 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 2.2% of Morse Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Morse Asset Management Inc's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 5,662 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,965,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 395 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 236.2% during the first quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.1% during the first quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $394.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock traded up $3.07 on Wednesday, hitting $288.20. The company had a trading volume of 4,978,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,863,811. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $304.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $432.39. The stock has a market cap of $261.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month 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.

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 is a boost 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 dividend yield of 3.07%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.