UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Holdings Decreased by Optas LLC

Optas LLC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,682 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,128,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,257,131,000 after acquiring an additional 196,696 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,702,736,000 after buying an additional 847,054 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $372.68.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $369.88 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $352.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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.