SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE UNH opened at $303.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $274.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.59.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.43.

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.