Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 880,183 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.5% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.41% of UnitedHealth Group worth $1,942,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 40.0% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $594.32 on Monday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $607.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $569.08 and its 200 day moving average is $517.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $548.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.14 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s 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.