First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 18.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,374 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,196 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 0.6% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $563.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $520.54 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $582.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $540.48.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.