Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Sells 44 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,778 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 44 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,914,740,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,183,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.3%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $310.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $395.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $478.20. The company has a market capitalization of $281.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.