Pettee Investors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pettee Investors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,197 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Pettee Investors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Members Trust Co boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 1,302 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 39.0% during the first quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC now owns 745 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 75,875 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $39,739,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.0% during the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 900 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,771 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,593,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley acquired 86,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Baird R W cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $405.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.35.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $292.20 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $308.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $436.45. The stock has a market cap of $265.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.45. 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 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). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.