UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stake Lowered by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 213,865 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 11,757 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $112,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $354,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $415.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded up $4.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $303.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,789,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,687,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $314.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $440.88. The company has a market capitalization of $275.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.