Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 803 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,843 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 803 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.4% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $18,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at $55,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Finally, HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $526.68 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $484.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $530.85 and a 200-day moving average of $564.52.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.