Athena Investment Management Purchases Shares of 9,963 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,963 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $4,141,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 2.5% of Athena Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,376,167,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth $245,516,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,444,928,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,019,844,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $31,946,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,395,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting UnitedHealth Group

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealthcare plans to eliminate prior-authorization requirements for approximately 1,700 treatments and services, targeting the removal of approval requirements for 30% of healthcare services by year-end. The change could reduce administrative friction for patients and providers while preserving the insurer’s focus on managing medical costs. UnitedHealthcare to drop prior authorization requirements
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s average brokerage recommendation for UnitedHealth remains equivalent to a Buy, indicating that analysts generally view the company’s long-term earnings and business resilience favorably. However, the usefulness of consensus ratings may be limited because sell-side recommendations often skew optimistic. Brokers Suggest Investing in UnitedHealth
• Neutral Sentiment: After gaining 31.8% over the past year, UnitedHealth’s valuation appears neither clearly cheap nor clearly excessive. Investors are weighing the company’s quality and resilience against recent share-price softness and regulatory developments, suggesting that further upside may depend on continued earnings execution. UnitedHealth Stock May Look Reasonable Despite IRS Tax Scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: IRS tax scrutiny introduces regulatory uncertainty and could weigh on investor confidence, even as the stock’s valuation is viewed as reasonable by some analysts. The issue may limit enthusiasm until its potential financial impact becomes clearer. UnitedHealth Stock May Look Reasonable Despite IRS Tax Scrutiny

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 1,169 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.00, for a total transaction of $455,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,977,920. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Piper Sandler set a $477.00 price target on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. DA Davidson set a $512.00 price objective on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $460.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $429.00 to $441.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $456.56.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE UNH opened at $399.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $358.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $412.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $363.18. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $255.96 and a fifty-two week high of $461.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.94 by $1.44. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm had revenue of $112.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.82 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be given a dividend of $2.32 per share. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is 59.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company's benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.

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