Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 824,815 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,777 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.9% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.09% of UnitedHealth Group worth $396,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 97,436.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,029,274,230 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $494,710,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,218,963 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 74,928,539 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,410,478,000 after acquiring an additional 509,633 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,079,140 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,379,561,000 after acquiring an additional 140,312 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,101,395 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,063,262,000 after purchasing an additional 242,959 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH traded down $2.78 on Monday, reaching $538.43. The company had a trading volume of 246,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,303,581. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52-week low of $445.68 and a 52-week high of $553.00. The company has a market cap of $498.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $513.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.41 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.58% and a net margin of 6.02%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 32.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total transaction of $65,688,578.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 521,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,084,374.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total transaction of $65,688,578.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,084,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total transaction of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,017,173.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $529.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $564.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.30.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.