UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Position Boosted by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,666 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 2.0% of NS Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $47,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,117,462,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings 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 worth $455,281,000 after purchasing an additional 821,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $576.93 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $582.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $551.25. The stock has a market cap of $530.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.