Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 87,662 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 391,768 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 87,662 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $198,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on UNH. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade 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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $503.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $460.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $510.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $548.22.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.19%.

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.