Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,485 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.3% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $9,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% during the third 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. State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $276,785,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $216,166,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UNH shares. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $465.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $519.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $560.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.