UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Holdings Lessened by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 48,639 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 844 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 3.9% of D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $25,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Argus cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,892,626.08. This represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $313.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $386.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $473.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

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.