UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Position Lifted by Focused Investors LLC

Focused Investors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,600 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 16,950 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 6.8% of Focused Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Focused Investors LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $215,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,012,218,000 after buying an additional 36,394 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,148,134,000 after buying an additional 182,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $2.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $515.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,819,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,086,562. The stock has a market cap of $471.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company's 50 day moving average price is $508.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $545.16.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Stephens lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group 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.