AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Raises Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 556,896 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,068 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 1.6% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $325,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delta Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,650 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 530 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE UNH traded up $1.79 on Thursday, hitting $564.75. The stock had a trading volume of 356,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,895,572. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $608.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $582.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $540.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $521.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

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.