New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH – Get Rating) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,720 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.0% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $ 27,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49,050.0% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,517,624 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $ 11,590,000 after purchasing an additional 15,486,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $ 4,478,185,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,559,868 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $ 22,877,432,000 after purchasing an additional 869,827 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2,853.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 861,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $ 432,746,000 after purchasing an additional 832,614 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,342,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $ 9,713,058,000 after buying an additional 790,219 shares during the period. 87.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $ 540.00 to $ 620.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $ 564.00 to $ 595.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $ 570.00 to $ 577.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $ 561.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 26th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $ 495.00 to $ 565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $ 555.73.
In other news, Director Frederick William Mcnabb III bought 89 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $ 504.32 per share, for a total transaction of $ 44,884.48. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,259 shares in the company, valued at $ 5,678,138.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard T. Burke sold 3,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 508.80, for a total transaction of $ 1,526,400.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $ 6,001,485. Insiders own 0.40% of the company stock.
NYSE: UNH opened at $ 452.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $ 383.12 and a 12 month high of $ 553.29. The company has a market cap of $ 424.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $ 500.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $ 490.61.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $ 5.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $ 5.40 by $ 0.09. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 24.74%. The firm had revenue of $ 80.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $ 78.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $ 5.31 EPS. The company revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $ 1.65 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $ 1.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 16th. This represents a $ 6.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.
About UnitedHealth Group: (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.
See Also:
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH – Get Rating).
Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily: – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.
.