Vicus Capital Has $251,000 Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vicus Capital decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 479 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH opened at $309.14 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $376.32 and its 200-day moving average is $469.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $280.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

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.