UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,007,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 15,505 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.7% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of UnitedHealth Group worth $1,015,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,914,740,000. Amundi lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 6,069,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,183,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,470 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 76,830.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,888,641 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $955,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $4.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $599.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,117,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,344,668. The company has a market cap of $548.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $438.50 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $512.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $541.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $632.85.

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.