UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,272 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,661 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.0% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $14,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after purchasing an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,961,369,000 after purchasing an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after purchasing an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $5,802,231,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,787,768 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,934,895,000 after acquiring an additional 341,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $489.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $494.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $505.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $554.70. The company has a market capitalization of $450.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.