William Blair Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, holding 684,141 shares valued at approximately $213.4 million.
• UnitedHealth Group's recent earnings report showed EPS of $4.08, which fell short of expectations, alongside a revenue of $111.62 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 38.30%.

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 684,141 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 59,120 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of UnitedHealth Group worth $213,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 416.7% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 62 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 143 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC now owns 87 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UNH. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $356.53 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $322.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $329.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $344.86.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

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.

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