New Hampshire Trust Grows Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New Hampshire Trust boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,925 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.0% of New Hampshire Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at about $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% during the first quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,592,000 after acquiring an additional 60,300 shares during the period. MAS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% in the first quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $875,000. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total value of $2,024,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,772,866.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $486.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $492.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $486.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $558.10.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.92 by $0.22. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.72% and a net margin of 6.06%. The firm had revenue of $92.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th will be paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UNH shares. StockNews.com started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $587.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $592.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $575.65.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.