Boston Partners Trims Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Boston Partners lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,537,206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 507,646 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.17% of UnitedHealth Group worth $475,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter valued at about $1,324,000. Wealth Effects LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Towercrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $236,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $433.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.3%

UNH stock opened at $326.23 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $343.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.01. The stock has a market cap of $295.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $622.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

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.