Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,173 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 16,682 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.6% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $34,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on UNH. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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 raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 22.0 %

Shares of UNH traded down $128.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $456.10. 29,048,929 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,373,443. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $438.50 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $512.95 and its 200-day moving average is $540.65. The company has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given 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 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.