Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 14,931 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $6,207,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $4,376,167,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,946,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395,530 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 141.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,109,029 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,356,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410,128 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 864.4% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 2,523,700 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $833,099,000 after buying an additional 2,262,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,713,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,169,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,097,859 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Robert W. Baird upgraded UnitedHealth Group from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $287.00 to $453.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets set a $512.00 target price on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $440.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $460.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $455.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total transaction of $205,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,763,770. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6%

UNH stock opened at $390.94 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $413.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $355.96. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $255.96 and a twelve month high of $461.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $350.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 16.53%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.08 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 14th will be issued a $2.32 dividend. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 14th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.72%.

Key Stories Impacting UnitedHealth Group

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth is reportedly prioritizing Medicare Advantage profitability over rapid membership growth by tightening benefits, improving pricing and controlling costs. The strategy could support stronger margins and more sustainable earnings, even if enrollment growth moderates. Is UnitedHealth Finding a Better Path to Medicare Advantage Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research added UNH to its Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” lists for overall stocks, value stocks and income stocks. The repeated favorable rankings may reinforce investor confidence in the shares. New Strong Buy Stocks for August 21st
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised several forward EPS estimates, including Q1 2028 to $7.36 from $6.78 and Q2 2028 to $7.19 from $5.84. A separate report also noted an increase in the Q1 EPS estimate, while Zacks maintained a Strong Buy rating. Q1 EPS Estimate for UnitedHealth Group Increased by Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Forecast revisions were mixed: Q3 2027 EPS was reduced to $4.74 from $4.81 and Q4 2027 to $4.07 from $4.12, partially offsetting the increases for 2028.
• Negative Sentiment: Aon expects U.S. employer health-care costs to rise 9.5% in 2027. Persistent medical-cost inflation could pressure insurers’ margins and increase pricing, benefit and utilization-management challenges for UnitedHealth. AON Sees No Relief From Health-Cost Inflation

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.