UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Stock Holdings Boosted by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 457.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,633 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,622 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 0.8% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $51,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $529.71 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 firm has a market capitalization of $487.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $532.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.77. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 EPS for the current year.

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.