M&T Bank Corp Acquires 26,074 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $128,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Second Line Capital LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 5,037 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 269,225 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $157,410,000 after buying an additional 8,993 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,429 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,513,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.8% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 705 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 price objective (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $500.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $572.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $559.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $460.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.