SFE Investment Counsel Lowers Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 475 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after acquiring an additional 776,516 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,661,000 after buying an additional 587,088 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after acquiring an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE UNH opened at $527.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $524.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $563.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm 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%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

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.