Congress Asset Management Co. MA decreased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 283,690 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 19,175 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Congress Asset Management Co. MA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $144,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,478,185,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,559,868 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,877,432,000 after acquiring an additional 869,827 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,853.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 861,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $432,746,000 after acquiring an additional 832,614 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,342,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,713,058,000 after acquiring an additional 790,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $346,859,000. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
In other news, Director Richard T. Burke sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.96, for a total transaction of $1,197,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,215,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,936,400. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frederick William Mcnabb III acquired 89 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $504.32 per share, with a total value of $44,884.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,678,138.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 6,273 shares of company stock valued at $3,065,752 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $513.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $492.84 and a 200 day moving average of $492.36. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $383.12 and a 52-week high of $553.29.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $5.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $80.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.77 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 24.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 20th were paid a $1.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.
UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $563.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $577.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.73.
UnitedHealth Group Company Profile: (Get Rating)
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 well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs for preventive and acute health care services, as well as services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals; Medicaid plans, children’s health insurance and health care programs; health and dental benefits; and hospital and clinical services.
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