Cetera Advisors LLC Purchases 575 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $15,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 97,436.9% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,028,218,963 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 74,928,539 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $35,410,478,000 after acquiring an additional 509,633 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $11,379,561,000 after purchasing an additional 140,312 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 242,959 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,084,374.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total value of $2,448,171.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,017,173.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 521,818 shares in the company, valued at $282,084,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $587.00 to $579.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $572.00 to $596.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $578.30.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $538.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $497.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $553.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $517.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $497.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.23. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.58%. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

About UnitedHealth Group

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.