Stiles Financial Services Inc Trims Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Stiles Financial Services Inc decreased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,697 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 709 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,233,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,652 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $427.09.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE UNH opened at $302.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $461.96. 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 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.