UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Costello Asset Management INC

Key Points

• Costello Asset Management INC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 56.7% in the first quarter, now owning 2,835 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million.
• UnitedHealth CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares for over $25 million, increasing his total ownership to about $196 million.
• UnitedHealth Group declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend, with a yield of 3.7%.

Costello Asset Management INC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,835 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 3,710 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 10,857 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $5,686,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.3% in the first quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,386,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 12,322 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $6,454,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 122,145 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $63,973,000 after acquiring an additional 4,871 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $198.00 price objective (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $360.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $371.67.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock traded up $10.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $251.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,720,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,688,242. The company has a 50 day moving average of $295.77 and a 200 day moving average of $412.81. The stock has a market cap of $227.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $234.60 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. 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 yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought 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 $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.