Korea Investment CORP Decreases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Korea Investment CORP decreased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 687,043 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 36,032 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.8% of Korea Investment CORP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of UnitedHealth Group worth $347,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after buying an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $1,763,000. Cadence Bank boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 2,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $518.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $473.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $508.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $545.37.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.