Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Increases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 52.1% during Q2, owning 3,011 shares valued at $939,000.
• Other institutional investors also significantly raised their holdings, with Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors increasing by 80.9% and PKO Investment Management by 93.5% in the same quarter.
• Analysts have given positive feedback, with Wells Fargo raising their price target from $267.00 to $400.00 and a consensus target price of $385.13 for UnitedHealth Group's stock.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 52.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,011 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 80.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 123 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 93.5% during the second quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 26,880 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $8,386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,991 shares during the last quarter. DDD Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,108,000. Moment Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 16.6% during the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 65.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 19,158 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $5,977,000 after purchasing an additional 7,607 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $355.00 to $286.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:UNH opened at $362.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.97. 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 firm has a market cap of $328.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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