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

by · The Markets Daily

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,875,874 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 76,141 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of UnitedHealth Group worth $982,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on UNH shares. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price target (down from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $415.57.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of UNH opened at $307.69 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $248.88 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $329.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.21.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.29% and a net margin of 5.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.02%.

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.

See Also

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