Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $53.82 Million Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 172,531 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 265,446 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $53,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after buying an additional 675,075 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $3,837,207,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,502,469 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,340,346,000 after purchasing an additional 432,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,846,764,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $333.81 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $608.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $302.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.43.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.