ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,270 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,128,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,257,131,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,702,736,000 after purchasing an additional 847,054 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $360.17 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $326.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $307.84 and its 200 day moving average is $355.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on UNH. Baird R W lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $358.95.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.