New England Research & Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,120 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $2,533,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.2% of New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citizens National Bank Trust Department lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $277,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 277,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $145,559,000 after buying an additional 14,112 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.3%

UNH stock opened at $348.05 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $292.87 and its 200-day moving average is $367.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.44.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The business’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 target price (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $358.95.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.