Brown Advisory Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 10,569 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.08% of UnitedHealth Group worth $365,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davidson Investment Advisors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 70.0% in the 1st quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 32,059 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $16,791,000 after acquiring an additional 13,202 shares in the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 438.1% during the first quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 6,350 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,326,000 after buying an additional 5,170 shares in the last quarter. Planning Directions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $476,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.4% during the first quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $5,581,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $186,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $3.79 on Tuesday, hitting $307.50. The company had a trading volume of 9,600,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,574,038. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $322.66 and a 200 day moving average of $445.65. The company has a market cap of $278.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm'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 owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by 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.