Soros Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 77,913 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 77,913 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $39,413,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $664.00 to $563.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $596.86.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded down $1.96 on Friday, hitting $398.72. 11,384,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,602,580. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business's fifty day moving average is $497.29 and its 200 day moving average is $529.82. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $393.31 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.