UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,093 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $30,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $6.23 on Friday, hitting $308.85. 13,584,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,448,059. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $339.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $456.28. The company has a market cap of $280.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week 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 (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.