UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 876,348 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $443,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of UNH. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 2,930 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 546 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 4,459 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 211.4% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 24,915 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,604,000 after buying an additional 16,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens increased their target price 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 2.0 %

UNH opened at $510.75 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $520.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $561.67. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $470.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.