Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,602 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 2.1% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after buying an additional 1,196,758 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $581.85 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $537.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $579.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $524.39. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $607.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.14 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,812,029.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

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.