Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Sells 55 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $700,000. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $426,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.57.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $302.19 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $458.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 26.29%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.02%.

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.