Davidson Investment Advisors Purchases Shares of 18,857 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Davidson Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 18,857 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $9,539,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 35,652 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,035,000 after buying an additional 8,312 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 3,969 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,145 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 3,892 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Waycross Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $523.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $523.11 and a 200-day moving average of $563.00. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group 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.