New England Research & Management Inc. Has $2.93 Million Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New England Research & Management Inc. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 464.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,930 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 4,880 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 1.4% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 815,822 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 802,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $509.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $469.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.27.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.57 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 51.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Baird R W raised UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.