UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 246,336 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,432 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.7% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $124,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UNH. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 902 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 575 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,247 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $456.10 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $512.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $540.65. The firm has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $438.50 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.