Capital Research Global Investors Reduces Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Capital Research Global Investors lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 52.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,261,798 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,780,251 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,067,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Founders Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Founders Capital Management LLC now owns 982 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,338 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 5,169 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Argus upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $361.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.42.

Key Headlines Impacting UnitedHealth Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded UnitedHealth Group to Buy and raised its price target to $450, citing improving medical cost trends and a better risk/reward setup heading into earnings. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also lifted its price target on UNH to $453 and kept an Overweight rating, reinforcing the view that sentiment is improving. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth raised its quarterly dividend by 5% to $2.32 per share, extending its long streak of annual dividend increases and signaling financial strength. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: Healthcare stocks, including UnitedHealth, are benefiting from a broader sector rebound as investors seek defensive stability and rotate out of more volatile areas of the market. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage notes that UNH has already recovered sharply year to date, outpacing the broader market and its industry peer group. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: Some articles continue to highlight ongoing concerns around rising medical costs, managed-care scrutiny, and the stock’s earlier challenges, which could limit upside if operating trends worsen. Article link

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $400.61 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $234.60 and a twelve month high of $404.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $363.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $323.59.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.76 by $0.47. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 2.68%.The business had revenue of $111.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.250- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 18.32 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $2.32 per share. This represents a $9.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,805 shares in the company, valued at $6,320,775. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.