Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,536 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,012,218,000 after buying an additional 36,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,223,331 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,148,134,000 after buying an additional 182,361 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $480.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $439.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $511.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.01. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.