UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Sharp Financial Services LLC

Sharp Financial Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 685 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $308.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $447.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.45.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.