Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,140 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $8,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after purchasing an additional 121,180 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,777 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 212,295 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $123,025,000 after purchasing an additional 21,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $341,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $523.48 on Friday. 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 cap of $481.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $523.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $563.18. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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.