Abacus Planning Group Inc. Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,333 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $303.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $409.03 and its 200-day moving average is $483.40. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.43.

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.