Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 210,786 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 760.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,512 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 210,786 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.0% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $120,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, hitting $294.99. The company had a trading volume of 20,069,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,655,522. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $448.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $501.48.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 target price (down from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $441.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.