Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Raises Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 277,048 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 41,753 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $145,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.7% in the first quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,242 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,078,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.0% in the first quarter. BlackBarn Capital Partners LP now owns 66,000 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $34,568,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.4% in the first quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 431,319 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $225,903,000 after buying an additional 33,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,701 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.38.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE UNH opened at $307.0980 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $288.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $389.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $278.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $234.60 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

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.