Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 627,739 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 22,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $317,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after acquiring an additional 36,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $3,148,134,000 after purchasing an additional 182,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $474.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $515.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $555.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.