UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Position Cut by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 546 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $308.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $280.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $448.90.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired 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 owned 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group 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.