Vantage Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Posted by on Jul 1st, 2023

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,789 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,007 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 4.9% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $35,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,969,869 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,903,103,000 after purchasing an additional 851,994 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,858,436 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,921,651,000 after purchasing an additional 247,997 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after buying an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,499,294 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,566,516,000 after buying an additional 414,032 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $627.00 to $564.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $580.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $592.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $592.68.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,008 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.58, for a total transaction of $488,456.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,019,764.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 6,160 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.49, for a total transaction of $3,002,938.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 86,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,199,084.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,008 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.58, for a total transaction of $488,456.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,019,764.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,852 shares of company stock worth $4,313,962 in the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $480.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $445.68 and a 12 month high of $558.10. The company has a market cap of $447.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.41.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.24 by $0.02. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 27.05%. The business had revenue of $91.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.86 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 19th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 15th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.39%.

About UnitedHealth Group

(Free Report)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)

Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.