Perpetual Ltd Sells 11,815 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Perpetual Ltd reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 309,987 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,815 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 2.0% of Perpetual Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $162,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after buying an additional 2,324 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 263,655 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $133,373,000 after acquiring an additional 9,872 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $625,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 68,313 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Barclays dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $302.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $274.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $339.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $456.28.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.02%.

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.