Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 390,147 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,959 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $228,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 168.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 3,667 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 13,644 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,977,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 11,008 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,436,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $569.61 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $584.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $534.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 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 $608.63. The firm has a market cap of $525.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during 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 revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

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.