Apella Capital LLC Acquires 304 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 37.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,120 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Red Tortoise LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 45.1% in the first quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 74 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 58.3% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $614.17.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the 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 sale, 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 corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $1.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $566.38. 4,320,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,301,266. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $591.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $517.25 and a 200-day moving average of $503.83. The stock has a market cap of $521.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the company earned $6.14 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.