Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 195,792 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $99,043,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. State Street Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, reaching $522.76. 1,256,418 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,261,224. The company's 50-day moving average price is $509.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $542.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

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.