Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 828 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,413,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,625,000 after buying an additional 12,550 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director John H. Noseworthy purchased 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $303.24 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $409.03 and a 200 day moving average of $483.40. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.