James Hambro & Partners Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

James Hambro & Partners increased its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,726 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,823 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 5.4% of James Hambro & Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. James Hambro & Partners’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $101,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,372,606,000 after buying an additional 2,540,538 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,679,401,000 after buying an additional 2,058,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on UNH shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 target price on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.33.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $1.60 on Friday, reaching $494.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,820,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,274,309. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $445.68 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a market cap of $456.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $502.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The firm had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.54%.

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.