UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Stake Trimmed by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,306 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 37,424 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.4% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $68,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Herbst Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,419,000. Tema Etfs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 24,077 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 2,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 399.2% during the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 178,972 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $59,085,000 after buying an additional 143,122 shares during the period. Finally, Warwick Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $274.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $286.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.40. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $606.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $113.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.38 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 14.79%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.81 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.02%.

Key UnitedHealth Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded UNH to Outperform and set a $330 price target, citing better-than-expected expense/margin improvement (especially at Optum Health), which implies meaningful upside to earnings estimates. Raymond James upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent analyst pieces argue UNH is deeply discounted after steep declines and that the pullback creates a buying opportunity for value/long-term investors. That narrative can attract contrarian flows. Investopedia buy argument
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is adding to UNH provide a headline-driven catalyst and signal institutional conviction for some macro-focused allocators. Paul Tudor Jones buys
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis from Zacks highlights UNH’s strong earnings surprise history and argues the company has the setup to beat upcoming quarters—supporting the bullish case tied to margin recovery. Zacks on earnings upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Street coverage remains heavy and mixed: many buy/outperform ratings and a median multi-month price target well above current levels, so analyst sentiment provides a backdrop for both rallies and volatility. QuiverQuant analyst/target summary
• Negative Sentiment: Social-media and trader chatter intensified after shares fell below Berkshire’s purchase price, spotlighting year-to-date and prior-year declines; that panic plus recent large institutional sell-offs increases downside volatility risk. QuiverQuant social discussion
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk remains unresolved: the Ninth Circuit will weigh whether United can use a broad preemption defense in a Medicare Advantage fraud case—an adverse ruling could increase liability exposure and regulatory scrutiny. Ninth Circuit legal risk

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $411.00 to $409.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $425.00 to $389.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.38.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.