175,329 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Acquired by ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group, purchasing 175,329 shares valued at approximately $91.8 million, making it the firm’s 11th largest holding.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in UnitedHealth Group, with GAMMA Investing raising theirs by over 56,000% and Vanguard Group acquiring an additional 5.6 million shares.
• UnitedHealth Group declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, reflecting a positive increase from the previous dividend and demonstrating a dividend yield of 3.5%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 175,329 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $91,823,000. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.4% of ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 3,642 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on UNH. Baird R W cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $6.07 on Friday, hitting $250.74. The stock had a trading volume of 10,146,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,404,546. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $630.73. 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 stock has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day moving average price is $291.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.82.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.