Blair William & Co. IL Has $198.48 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 389,740 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,912 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $198,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after acquiring an additional 821,050 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $434,501,000 after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $577.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $607.94. The company has a market cap of $531.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $572.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $519.00.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on UNH shares. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.