Highland Capital Management LLC Has $8.72 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,565 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,313,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,260,241,000 after buying an additional 764,872 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after acquiring an additional 527,526 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,192 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,812,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 11,749,819 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,647,433,000 after acquiring an additional 399,739 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $493.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $454.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $503.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.79. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $445.68 and a 52 week high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Barclays started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $551.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.