UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,020 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 0.7% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $22,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,661,000 after purchasing an additional 587,088 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of UNH opened at $523.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $523.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.48. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 $481.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 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.