Cullen Investment Group LTD. Buys 168 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,264 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,919,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,277,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 326.0% during the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 213 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 84,278 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,023 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $481.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $504.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $579.74.

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.