Alden Global Capital Acquires New Stake in UnitedHealth Group

Alden Global Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, purchasing 23,655 shares valued at approximately $7.38 million. This investment was disclosed in the company’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and positions UnitedHealth Group as the ninth largest holding in Alden’s investment portfolio, accounting for about 4.5% of its overall investments.

This acquisition comes during a period when several institutional investors are adjusting their stakes in UnitedHealth Group. Notably, Norges Bank entered the market with a new position worth approximately $3.84 billion. Meanwhile, Dodge & Cox increased its holdings by 117.7%, acquiring an additional 4,730,192 shares, bringing its total to 8,750,560 shares valued at around $2.73 billion.

Wellington Management Group LLP also lifted its position by 10.6%, now owning 25,847,940 shares valued at $13.54 billion. Similarly, Amundi grew its holdings by 33.8%, resulting in a total of 6,191,871 shares worth approximately $1.90 billion. Natixis made headlines with a remarkable 396.6% increase in its holdings, now owning 1,507,698 shares valued at about $470.36 million. Collectively, hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 87.86% of UnitedHealth Group’s stock.

Analysts Issue Positive Ratings

Wall Street analysts have expressed a bullish outlook on UnitedHealth Group. Barclays raised its price target from $352.00 to $386.00, maintaining an “overweight” rating. Similarly, Mizuho increased its target from $300.00 to $430.00, also rating the company as “outperform.” Sanford C. Bernstein followed suit, boosting its target from $433.00 to $440.00.

KeyCorp and Jefferies Financial Group also adjusted their price targets, with KeyCorp moving from $350.00 to $400.00 and Jefferies raising theirs from $317.00 to $409.00. The consensus rating from analysts indicates a mix of sentiment, with 17 analysts rating it a Buy, 9 a Hold, and 3 a Sell. According to MarketBeat, the average price target stands at $385.54.

Company Performance and Dividend Announcement

On October 28, UnitedHealth Group reported its latest earnings, revealing an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.92, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.05. The company reported revenue of $113.16 billion for the quarter, slightly below the expected $113.19 billion. Compared to the same quarter last year, revenue increased by 12.2%.

In addition to its financial performance, UnitedHealth Group announced a quarterly dividend of $2.21 per share, payable on December 16, 2023, to shareholders of record on December 8, 2023. This dividend represents an annualized yield of 2.6% and reflects a payout ratio of 46.14%.

UnitedHealth Group operates as a diversified healthcare company in the United States. It has four main segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx, catering to a variety of healthcare needs and services across different demographics.

As Alden Global Capital and other institutional investors continue to build their stakes in UnitedHealth Group, the market will be watching closely to see how these moves influence the company’s performance in the coming quarters.