Putnam Investments LLC Has $857.44 Million Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,814,337 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,511 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.4% of Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Putnam Investments LLC owned approximately 0.19% of UnitedHealth Group worth $857,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apeiron RIA LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 964 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 509 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 3,251 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 206 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, May 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $540.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. SVB Securities lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $549.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $575.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total transaction of $2,024,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,573 shares in the company, valued at $39,772,866.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $481.00 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $445.68 and a 1-year high of $558.10. The firm has a market cap of $445.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $491.09 and a 200-day moving average of $486.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.92 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $92.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.97 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.72% and a net margin of 6.06%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.83 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.65%.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.