Joseph Group Capital Management Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Joseph Group Capital Management increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,477 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.9% of Joseph Group Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Joseph Group Capital Management's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Burford Brothers Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the first quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 3,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the first quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC now owns 833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.5% in the first quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Correct Capital Wealth Management raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 25.9% in the first quarter. Correct Capital Wealth Management now owns 4,970 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,769 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,735,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock traded up $4.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $303.81. 9,789,082 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,687,343. 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $316.42 and its 200 day moving average is $442.28. The stock has a market cap of $275.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.45.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change 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 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 37.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.00.

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.