Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Has $1.08 Billion Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,130,294 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 49,481 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises 4.9% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,077,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $6,375,744,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,931,478 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,012,218,000 after purchasing an additional 36,394 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $515.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $471.51 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $544.24.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.