Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its shares in UnitedHealth Group by 53.0% during the second quarter, decreasing its holdings to 4,282 shares worth approximately $1.34 million.
• Institutional investors own 87.86% of UnitedHealth Group, with several firms like Vanguard Group and Wellington Management increasing their stakes significantly in recent quarters.
• Analysts have mixed views on UnitedHealth Group, with target prices ranging from $198.00 to $379.00 and an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $358.95.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 53.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,282 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 4,831 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,702,736,000 after purchasing an additional 847,054 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on UNH. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $198.00 price target (down previously from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $358.95.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $360.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $326.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $234.60 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $307.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $354.55.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

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.

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