Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,513 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apeiron RIA LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 964 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 509 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,251 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $587.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, August 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, SVB Securities reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $575.65.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $486.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $492.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $486.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $445.68 and a fifty-two week high of $558.10. The firm has a market cap of $450.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 26.72%. The company had revenue of $92.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.57 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.