UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network cut its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,484 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen downgraded 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, Mizuho reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.5%

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $303.24 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $248.88 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $409.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $484.21. The stock has a market cap of $275.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company 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.