UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Sold by Sustainable Growth Advisers LP

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,392,146 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 245,853 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 2.2% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $434,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in 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 buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,702,736,000 after acquiring an additional 847,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 3.3%

NYSE UNH opened at $321.44 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $622.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.06. The firm has a market cap of $291.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $333.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

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.