Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Sells 519 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,013 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $133,373,000 after buying an additional 9,872 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.57.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:UNH opened at $308.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $280.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $448.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 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 company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.