E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 1,844 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.3%, acquiring an additional 1,844 shares to own a total of 12,478 shares valued at approximately $6.54 million.
• Multiple large investors have also increased their holdings in UnitedHealth Group, with Vanguard Group now holding over 90 million shares valued at approximately $47.5 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, yielding 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 38.30%.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $47,519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,592,718 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,346,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $366.52.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 107,575 shares of company stock valued at $31,022,334. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 3.7%

NYSE:UNH opened at $261.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $237.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $402.24. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. UnitedHealth Group's 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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