Exchange Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Exchange Bank decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 764 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Exchange Bank’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Argus downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $310.70 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $395.60 and a 200 day moving average of $478.20. The company has a market cap of $281.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. 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 2.85%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.