Sarasin & Partners LLP Buys Shares of 554,313 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 554,313 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $290,321,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up 3.1% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned about 0.06% of UnitedHealth Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2%

UNH opened at $303.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $399.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.