UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.5% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $6,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $44,150,045,000 after purchasing an additional 250,291 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,715,790,000 after buying an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after acquiring an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,244,158,000 after acquiring an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.7 %

UNH stock opened at $489.89 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70. The firm has a market cap of $450.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $498.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.55 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $2.10 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

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.