Smith Salley Wealth Management Trims Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Smith Salley Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,400 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $311.89 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $333.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.07. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $282.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.