Brandes Investment Partners LP Increases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 39.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,416 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 39,548 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $43,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,837,207,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2,234.9% during the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,132,885 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $353,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084,366 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $323.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $622.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $343.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.29.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Mizuho upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price objective on the stock. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.12.

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.