Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 25.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,436 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,124 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in 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 worth $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 542,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UNH shares. HSBC increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $594.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $569.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $517.70. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $607.94. The company has a market capitalization of $548.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.34%.

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.