Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Raises Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 168.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,450 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $4.46 on Thursday, reaching $288.03. 14,738,720 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,770,851. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $308.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $436.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $414.35.

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.