White Pine Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

White Pine Capital LLC cut its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 49.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 825 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $151,374,000 after buying an additional 121,180 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in 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. raised its position 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 worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in 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, Leisure Capital Management raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 2,932 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,714,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $531.31 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $488.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $524.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $563.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.