Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Sells 15,269 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 96.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 616 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 15,269 shares during the quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.4 %

UNH stock opened at $575.00 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $577.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $521.14. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $607.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $529.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion during 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

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

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.