526,309 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Acquired by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 526,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $307,722,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 2.9% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.06% of UnitedHealth Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after purchasing an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,507,748.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total value of $1,624,727.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $617.37.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $598.27. 256,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,912,749. The firm has a market cap of $552.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $583.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $530.04. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $607.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $98.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 55.70%.

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.