Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $867,000 Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,459 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,216,132 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $627,573,000 after buying an additional 4,910 shares during the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,582 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 15,421 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,077,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on UNH shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $325.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $331.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $451.20. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 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, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. 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.