Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,931 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Raymond James cut UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 target price (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded up $7.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $303.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,558,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,976,622. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $413.43 and a 200 day moving average of $486.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $248.88 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.