UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,599,171 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,412 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.7% of Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.17% of UnitedHealth Group worth $808,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UNH. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on UNH shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $523.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $523.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.