Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,165 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Stolper Co raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stolper Co now owns 16,563 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,435,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 45.3% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 17,041 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,678,000 after purchasing an additional 5,313 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 121,285 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $61,766,000 after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares during the last quarter. Aua Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $593.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $517.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $607.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.