Cooke & Bieler LP Acquires 10,670 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,079 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 10,670 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $98,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 339.1% in the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 101 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.0%

UNH opened at $341.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $309.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.40. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $423.00 to $417.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $335.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

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.