Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 936 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,093 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $30,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $302.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $339.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $456.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

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.