Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA Purchases 767 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,071 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.6% of Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after acquiring an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after acquiring an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 19th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $310.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $281.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $395.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $478.20.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.02%.

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.