Mutual Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mutual Advisors LLC cut its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,732 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,733 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $308.69. 6,161,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,560,015. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $324.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the 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 acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.