Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Purchases 125 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 576 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director directly 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $312.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $351.00 to $306.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $392.29.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $280.69 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $254.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.22.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.