Bridges Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.1%, now holding 303,336 shares worth approximately $94.63 million, making it the firm's 22nd largest investment.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Wellington Management Group, also increased their positions in UnitedHealth, demonstrating strong confidence in the company.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about UnitedHealth Group, with several firms raising their price targets, including Bank of America and KeyCorp, which now have targets of $390.00 and $400.00, respectively.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,336 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 20,163 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.3% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $94,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $13,537,859,000 after buying an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,257,131,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 847,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Bank of America boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $406.00 target price for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $384.09.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:UNH opened at $360.77 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $325.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.17. The stock has a market cap of $326.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company's revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.

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