Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 351 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $616.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $619.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $567.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $581.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $545.03.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $625.00 price target (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

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.