UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Sold by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 51.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,674 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 17,668 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $4,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth $668,000. Marin Bay Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 41.0% during the first quarter. Marin Bay Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Phillip James Consulting Co. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. Phillip James Consulting Co. now owns 1,559 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 73.1% during the 1st quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 385,856 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $104,409,000 after buying an additional 162,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 93.6% in the first quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 76,983 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $20,831,000 after acquiring an additional 37,223 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting UnitedHealth Group

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth was upgraded to Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), signaling improving earnings expectations and adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on UNH to $516 and reiterated an Overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside after its recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted UnitedHealth’s strong Q2 performance, including better-than-expected earnings, raised guidance, and a larger share buyback authorization, all of which support the bullish case. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports framed UNH as a defensive healthcare leader benefiting from market rotation away from AI stocks, with analysts also calling it a strong momentum name and a stable dividend pick. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The House passed a bill focused on provider accountability and fraud prevention in federal health programs; the article noted UNH could be affected by tighter oversight, but the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $466.00 to $516.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $460.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $455.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $284,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,320,775. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of UNH stock opened at $436.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.78. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $461.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $406.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $343.75.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $1.44. The business had revenue of $112.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.08 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $2.32 dividend. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 59.72%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.