Vantage Investment Partners LLC Buys 148,945 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 105.8%, purchasing an additional 148,945 shares, making it the largest position in their portfolio.
• UnitedHealth Group reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates of $4.45, and had revenue of $111.62 billion, indicating a 12.9% year-over-year growth.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, yielding 2.5%, with a payout ratio of 38.3%.

Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 105.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 289,696 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 148,945 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up 6.6% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $90,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,128,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,257,131,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth about $3,846,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,070,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $3,702,736,000 after acquiring an additional 847,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $360.17 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $307.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $379.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $358.95.

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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