UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by IMS Capital Management

IMS Capital Management decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after acquiring an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen boosted 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. Argus upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other 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 value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group 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 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $584.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $539.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $579.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $525.06. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.14 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.