Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,320 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.1% of Chancellor Financial Group WB LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $4,376,167,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 76,863,061 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,946,594,000 after buying an additional 3,395,530 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 141.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,109,029 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,356,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410,128 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 864.4% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 2,523,700 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $833,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,262,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,713,684 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,169,606,000 after buying an additional 2,097,859 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $440.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets set a $512.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $466.00 to $516.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $455.92.
UnitedHealth Group News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:
- Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth is reportedly prioritizing Medicare Advantage profitability over rapid membership growth by tightening benefits, improving pricing and controlling costs. The strategy could support stronger margins and more sustainable earnings, even if enrollment growth moderates. Is UnitedHealth Finding a Better Path to Medicare Advantage Growth?
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research added UNH to its Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” lists for overall stocks, value stocks and income stocks. The repeated favorable rankings may reinforce investor confidence in the shares. New Strong Buy Stocks for August 21st
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised several forward EPS estimates, including Q1 2028 to $7.36 from $6.78 and Q2 2028 to $7.19 from $5.84. A separate report also noted an increase in the Q1 EPS estimate, while Zacks maintained a Strong Buy rating. Q1 EPS Estimate for UnitedHealth Group Increased by Analyst
- Neutral Sentiment: Forecast revisions were mixed: Q3 2027 EPS was reduced to $4.74 from $4.81 and Q4 2027 to $4.07 from $4.12, partially offsetting the increases for 2028.
- Negative Sentiment: Aon expects U.S. employer health-care costs to rise 9.5% in 2027. Persistent medical-cost inflation could pressure insurers’ margins and increase pricing, benefit and utilization-management challenges for UnitedHealth. AON Sees No Relief From Health-Cost Inflation
UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.6%
Shares of UNH opened at $390.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $413.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.96. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $255.96 and a 52 week high of $461.62. The firm has a market cap of $350.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.62.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $1.44. The firm had revenue of $112.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.81 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 3.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.08 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current year.
UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 14th will be given a $2.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $9.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.72%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 500 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.00, for a total value of $205,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,763,770. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
UnitedHealth Group Profile
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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