Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 7,155 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,481 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,155 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $118,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $575.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $577.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $520.47. The stock has a market cap of $529.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $607.94.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

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.