UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

by · The Markets Daily

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNHFree Report) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,304,769 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 123,992 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.14% of UnitedHealth Group worth $430,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AltraVue Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. AltraVue Capital LLC now owns 78,460 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $25,900,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 9,624 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,177,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,457,723,000 after buying an additional 824,120 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 34,233 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,301,000 after buying an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 421,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $138,983,000 after purchasing an additional 26,085 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $400.61 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $348.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $323.59. The company has a market capitalization of $363.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.64. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $404.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNHGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.76 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $111.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.84 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.20 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.250- EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 18.32 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $2.32 dividend. This represents a $9.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on UNH. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $444.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $373.00 to $429.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.42.

View Our Latest Report on UNH

Key UnitedHealth Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded UnitedHealth Group to Buy and raised its price target to $450, citing improving medical cost trends and a better risk/reward setup heading into earnings. Article link
  • Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also lifted its price target on UNH to $453 and kept an Overweight rating, reinforcing the view that sentiment is improving. Article link
  • Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth raised its quarterly dividend by 5% to $2.32 per share, extending its long streak of annual dividend increases and signaling financial strength. Article link
  • Positive Sentiment: Healthcare stocks, including UnitedHealth, are benefiting from a broader sector rebound as investors seek defensive stability and rotate out of more volatile areas of the market. Article link
  • Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage notes that UNH has already recovered sharply year to date, outpacing the broader market and its industry peer group. Article link
  • Negative Sentiment: Some articles continue to highlight ongoing concerns around rising medical costs, managed-care scrutiny, and the stock’s earlier challenges, which could limit upside if operating trends worsen. Article link

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total value of $284,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,320,775. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

(Free Report)

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.

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