UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Brown Shipley& Co Ltd

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,099 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 2,456 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 3.0% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on UNH. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 5.8%

UNH opened at $303.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $460.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group 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.

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