Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $1.05 Billion Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,070,968 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 380,459 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 3.4% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,047,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $524.94 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $542.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.