Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $2.20 Billion Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,358,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 344,082 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.5% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,204,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $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 fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $456.10 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $512.95 and its 200 day moving average is $540.65. The stock has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $438.50 and a twelve 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

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.