Campion Asset Management Has $915,000 Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Campion Asset Management cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,747 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Campion Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Campion Asset Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,346,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301,010 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on UNH. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Baird R W downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $366.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $250.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $291.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $406.04.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

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.