Patrick Hugh Conway Sells 589 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $315.38. 6,520,295 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,148,866. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $391.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $476.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 37.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 46,400 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $24,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Cim LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 38,519 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $20,174,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 25.5% during the first quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 85,563 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $44,814,000 after buying an additional 17,390 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 295.3% in the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 5,491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 4,102 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $210,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $426.52.

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.