Moody National Bank Trust Division Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,505 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,305 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.3% of Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Outfitter Financial LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Advocacy Wealth Management Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Advocacy Wealth Management Services LLC now owns 58 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 54.8% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Raymond James upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $540.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $564.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $610.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $561.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 26th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.73.

In other news, Director Frederick William Mcnabb III purchased 89 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $504.32 per share, for a total transaction of $44,884.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,678,138.88. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard T. Burke sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.25, for a total transaction of $1,233,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,220,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,765,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UNH opened at $489.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $459.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $383.12 and a fifty-two week high of $553.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $496.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $5.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $80.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.77 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 24.74%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 20th will be paid a $1.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 16th. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

About UnitedHealth Group (Get Rating)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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 well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs for preventive and acute health care services, as well as services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; health and dental benefits; and hospital and clinical services.

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