Bessemer Group Inc. Has $640.01 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Bessemer Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,331,572 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 193,255 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.4% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $640,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $494,710,366,000 after buying an additional 1,028,218,963 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 1st 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 increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,101,395 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,063,262,000 after buying an additional 242,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the last quarter. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNH. UBS Group upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $520.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $572.00 to $596.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $576.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,017,173.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $534.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 490,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,281,869. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $445.68 and a one year high of $553.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $519.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $498.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $494.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.63.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th will be issued a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.64%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.