Clarius Group LLC Has $3.06 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Clarius Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,845 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,208 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.5%

UNH stock opened at $309.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $376.32 and a 200-day moving average of $469.08. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.