Payden & Rygel Raises Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Payden & Rygel lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 519.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,380 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 23,800 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $14,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of UNH opened at $524.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $480.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $509.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $542.37. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.