UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by JT Stratford LLC

JT Stratford LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 5.8%

UNH opened at $303.08 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $460.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $508.74. The stock has a market cap of $274.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 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 analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.