Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 587 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,888 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 587 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.2% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $160,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $594.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $569.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $517.70. The company has a market cap of $548.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

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.