National Pension Service Has $758.43 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,440,593 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 27,533 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.1% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of UnitedHealth Group worth $758,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,787,768 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,934,895,000 after purchasing an additional 341,749 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,984,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,143,004,000 after purchasing an additional 141,646 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,757,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,902,829,000 after buying an additional 352,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,725,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,879,245,000 after acquiring an additional 623,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE UNH traded up $0.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $503.97. 612,599 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,321,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The stock has a market cap of $463.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $481.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $511.98.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.