UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,599,171 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 12,412 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Rhumbline Advisers’ portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $808,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in 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 buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $523.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $523.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.48.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UNH. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

About UnitedHealth Group

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.