Waverton Investment Management Ltd Has $179.75 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 576,448 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 96,030 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.5% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $179,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,702,736,000 after purchasing an additional 847,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,386,274 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,821,061,000 after buying an additional 103,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of UNH opened at $327.68 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $234.60 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $345.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.09.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The firm had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $406.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.