State Street Corp Increases Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.1% of State Street Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. State Street Corp owned approximately 4.95% of UnitedHealth Group worth $26,626,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,284,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $161,697,000. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 55,804 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,419,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 145 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% during the second quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 11,741 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,979,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $610.63 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $587.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $558.20.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.58.

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.