Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 292 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,161 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $526.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $529.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $564.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $484.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.