Cottage Street Advisors LLC Sells 404 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,010 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 404 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.0% of Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reaffirmed 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $427.09.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $302.04 on Friday. 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 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $359.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.