Vista Capital Partners Inc. Purchases 119 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $57,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE UNH opened at $501.52 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $461.54 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $521.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.03. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

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.