UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Holdings Lessened by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,331,572 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 193,255 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 1.4% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of UnitedHealth Group worth $640,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. 25 LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kalos Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth $34,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 216.7% during the 1st quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 76 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. UBS Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $520.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $565.00 to $503.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $576.90.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $2.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $534.19. 490,429 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,281,869. The company has a market capitalization of $494.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.63. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $445.68 and a 1-year high of $553.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $519.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $498.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.58%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 32.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total transaction of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,017,173.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 4,498 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.28, for a total value of $2,448,171.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,017,173.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen J. Hemsley sold 121,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.58, for a total value of $65,688,578.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 521,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,084,374.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.