Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Boosts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,190 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.7% of Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $94,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after buying an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,090,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,627,311,000 after buying an additional 815,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3,464.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 825,311 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $434,501,000 after buying an additional 802,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $3.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $504.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,535,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,241,919. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $498.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $500.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $464.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.60. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

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.