UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Fortitude Family Office LLC

Fortitude Family Office LLC decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 403 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $310.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $395.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $478.20. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.