Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 212,785 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,040,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 212,785 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.11% of UnitedHealth Group worth $526,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,611,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $515.47. 2,378,211 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,268,981. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $508.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $544.24. 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 stock has a market cap of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research 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.