Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $216.35 Million Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 427,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.8% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $216,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after purchasing an additional 180,479 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $319,000. Executive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $630.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

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

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $580.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $530.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $510.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $541.73. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its 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. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

UnitedHealth Group 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.