Value Partners Investments Inc. Has $7.73 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 47.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,385 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,179 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.6% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $3,837,207,000. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after buying an additional 4,730,192 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,502,469 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,340,346,000 after acquiring an additional 432,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,191,871 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565,245 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $286.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $406.00 price objective on the stock. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $385.54.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $324.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $294.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.68. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $606.36.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 19.23%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.15 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.14%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.