Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 35,000 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,645 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $53,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.0% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 42,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $20,209,000 after buying an additional 8,144 shares in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 7,793 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,746,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $250,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the second quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 389,120 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $187,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,806,000. 85.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total transaction of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,017,173.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value of $65,688,578.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at $282,084,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total value of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,017,173.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on UNH. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 21st. HSBC assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $540.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $565.00 to $503.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $576.90.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $3.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $538.38. 691,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,279,440. The stock has a market capitalization of $497.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $520.61 and its 200-day moving average is $498.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $553.00.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.41 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.64%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.