12,603,771 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,603,771 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Norges Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Norges Bank owned about 1.37% of UnitedHealth Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during 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 buying an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,148,134,000 after acquiring an additional 182,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE UNH opened at $518.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $508.60 and its 200-day moving average is $545.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $473.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.