Lifeworks Advisors LLC Purchases 255 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 21.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,446 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after acquiring an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 880,183 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price target (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $593.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $582.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $548.03. The company has a market capitalization of $546.00 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.