UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Acquired by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,322 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $351.00 to $306.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $373.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $237.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $296.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

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.