AIA Group Ltd Cuts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,381 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,436 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 744 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 250,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $127,592,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. MAS Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. MAS Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $875,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. TD Cowen lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.68.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $17.48 on Thursday, reaching $496.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,545,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,492,220. The company has a market capitalization of $457.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.38. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $554.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.75 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

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.