Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases 1,770 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,031 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $19,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $577.10 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $607.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $575.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $519.83. The firm has a market cap of $532.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.