7,344,656 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Purchased by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 7,344,656 shares of UnitedHealth Group, marking a significant investment valued at approximately $3.85 billion, making it the firm's 11th largest holding.
• Recent analyst ratings have been mixed, with price targets for UnitedHealth Group ranging from $267.00 to $501.00, indicating varying outlooks on the stock’s future performance.
• UnitedHealth Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, reflecting a positive change from its previous dividend and maintaining a dividend yield of 3.5%.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,344,656 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $3,846,764,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.2% of Nuveen LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Nuveen LLC owned 0.81% of UnitedHealth Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 56,142.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,295,153 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,344,586,000 after buying an additional 8,280,404 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 36.6% in 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 buying an additional 2,301,010 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 137.8% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,641,177 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $859,518,000 after buying an additional 950,928 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Argus lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $366.52.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:UNH traded up $6.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $250.74. The stock had a trading volume of 10,146,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,423,422. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $227.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43. The business's 50 day moving average is $291.78 and its 200-day moving average is $405.18.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group's payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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.