Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $560,000 Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC trimmed its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after buying an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after acquiring an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $577.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $532.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $607.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $575.84 and a 200 day moving average of $519.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

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.