Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $143.91 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 284,181 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $143,912,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.9% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $558,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the 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 purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $524.94 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $509.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $542.37. 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 firm has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.