Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Sells 223 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,323 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after purchasing an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,802 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $337.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Baird R W lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $300.37 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.