Manning & Napier Group LLC Raises Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 107.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 73,830 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,169 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $38,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after purchasing an additional 764,872 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,192 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,647,433,000 after acquiring an additional 399,739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE UNH traded up $1.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $494.70. 3,820,008 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,274,309. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $456.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $502.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $518.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 19th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, November 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.