Claris Advisors LLC MO Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,620 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $277,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,413,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $313.39 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. 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 fifty day moving average of $386.66 and a 200-day moving average of $472.32.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 firm posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

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.