B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,405 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,820 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.5% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $15,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $295.37 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $452.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $504.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.87.

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.