California Public Employees Retirement System Has $591.66 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• CalPERS trimmed its UnitedHealth stake by 10.4% in the first quarter, but still held 2.19 million shares valued at about $591.66 million at quarter-end.
• UnitedHealth reported a strong Q2, beating earnings and revenue estimates and raising its 2026 profit outlook. The results were helped by better margins and lower medical costs.
• Analysts turned more bullish after earnings, with several firms lifting price targets and Zacks upgrading the stock to strong-buy. Management also doubled its 2026 share repurchase target to at least $5 billion.

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,186,539 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 252,456 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.24% of UnitedHealth Group worth $591,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 91,496 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $30,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 150,773 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $49,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1,287.2% during the first quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 60,022 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $16,241,000 after buying an additional 55,695 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 34,947 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $11,536,000 after acquiring an additional 19,591 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 291,853 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $100,777,000 after acquiring an additional 17,684 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting UnitedHealth Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth beat Q2 estimates on earnings and revenue, driven by improved margins and lower medical costs, and raised its 2026 profit outlook. UnitedHealth shares surge on strong earnings beat and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, UBS, RBC, and other firms lifted price targets after the results, signaling stronger Street confidence in the stock’s recovery. Analyst price target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Management doubled the 2026 share repurchase target to at least $5 billion, which may help support EPS and investor returns. What’s Fueling UNH Stock’s Rally? A Bigger Buyback, Higher Guidance – And CEO Says Turnaround Is ‘Returning To Form’
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around the earnings call says Medicare Advantage and Optum are improving, but commercial cost pressures could delay a full margin recovery. UnitedHealth Q2 Earnings Call Focuses on Reset and Durable Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious, with at least one downgrade noting that the turnaround still faces execution risk despite the stronger quarter. UnitedHealth Group Q2: The Real Test Begins Now (Downgrade)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $468.00 to $529.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $447.29.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total value of $284,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,320,775. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $426.39 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $404.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $342.28. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $461.62. The stock has a market cap of $387.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $1.44. The company had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 3.14%.UnitedHealth Group's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.08 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $2.32 per share. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 70.09%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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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