UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Stock Position Raised by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 36.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,284 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 31,053 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $31,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,600,260 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $30,238,162,000 after purchasing an additional 995,210 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,232,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $14,931,592,000 after buying an additional 1,119,834 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,457,723,000 after buying an additional 824,120 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,829,054 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,215,660,000 after acquiring an additional 680,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,655,111 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $6,158,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.9%

UNH stock opened at $416.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $408.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $461.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 3.14%.The firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.08 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $2.32 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. HC Wainwright set a $492.00 price objective on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $460.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $455.92.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company's benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.

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