Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

by · The Markets Daily

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of UnitedHealth Group worth $1,039,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on UNH shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

Read Our Latest Analysis on UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $596.69 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $608.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $581.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $543.74. The company has a market capitalization of $551.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

(Free Report)

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.

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