Boston Partners Buys 105,715 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,610,608 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,715 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.0% of Boston Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Boston Partners’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $815,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.1 %

UNH stock opened at $499.01 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $456.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $549.15.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

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.