Lafayette Investments Inc. Grows Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Lafayette Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 918 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citizens National Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $1,324,000. Wealth Effects LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 14.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $2,229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $406.00 target price on the stock. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:UNH opened at $364.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $329.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $331.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $341.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

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.