Brighton Jones LLC Purchases 8,458 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,458 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on UNH shares. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’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 in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $577.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $575.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $519.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $607.94. The stock has a market cap of $532.91 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 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.