KBC Group NV Lowers Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

KBC Group NV lessened its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 805,617 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 112,699 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.3% of KBC Group NV's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. KBC Group NV owned about 0.09% of UnitedHealth Group worth $421,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $277,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $39,413,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $19,625,000 after acquiring an additional 12,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued 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 lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $415.57.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE UNH traded up $6.23 on Friday, hitting $308.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,584,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,404,577. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $336.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.97. The firm has a market cap of $280.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.02%.

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.