American Trust Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

American Trust grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,474 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 749 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.8% of American Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. American Trust’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH traded up $17.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $589.83. The stock had a trading volume of 5,094,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,453,607. The stock has a market capitalization of $542.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $503.15. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $591.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.14 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.