UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Acquired by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 32.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,508 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,140 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up 0.5% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $35,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $3,837,207,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,572,193,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730,192 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth about $528,273,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 33.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,191,871 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,904,372,000 after buying an additional 1,565,245 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.75.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:UNH opened at $346.57 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $606.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $313.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.42.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.