Americana Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,276 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $523.48 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $523.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.