Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co Makes New Investment in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $668,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,600,260 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,238,162,000 after purchasing an additional 995,210 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,232,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,931,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,834 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,457,723,000 after buying an additional 824,120 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,829,054 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,215,660,000 after buying an additional 680,077 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,655,111 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,158,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about UnitedHealth Group

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UnitedHealth was upgraded to Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), signaling improving earnings expectations and adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on UNH to $516 and reiterated an Overweight rating, reinforcing the view that the stock still has meaningful upside after its recent rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted UnitedHealth’s strong Q2 performance, including better-than-expected earnings, raised guidance, and a larger share buyback authorization, all of which support the bullish case. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports framed UNH as a defensive healthcare leader benefiting from market rotation away from AI stocks, with analysts also calling it a strong momentum name and a stable dividend pick. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The House passed a bill focused on provider accountability and fraud prevention in federal health programs; the article noted UNH could be affected by tighter oversight, but the near-term stock impact is unclear. Article Title

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $436.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $396.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $406.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $343.75. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $461.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.78.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $1.44. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 3.14%.The business had revenue of $112.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.500-20.000 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $2.32 per share. This represents a $9.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.21. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on UNH. TD Cowen upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $397.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. KeyCorp raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $455.92.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total value of $284,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 17,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,320,775. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.