Sarasin & Partners LLP Makes New $290.32 Million Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 554,313 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $290,321,000. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 3.1% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.06% of UnitedHealth Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,306 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $16,397,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 786 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 24,338 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $12,747,000 after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walker Asset Management LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 654 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price target (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report 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, May 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $7.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $318.14. 15,897,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,150,543. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $288.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $391.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $476.22.

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

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $2.21 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $320.80 per share, for a total transaction of $491,786.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.28% 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.