UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Position Decreased by Coho Partners Ltd.

Coho Partners Ltd. cut its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 224,623 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 13,821 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises approximately 5.2% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $113,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 697,335 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $352,754,000 after purchasing an additional 28,940 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 502 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,058,000. Vicus Capital raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 541 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 19,517 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,873,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $531.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $488.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 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. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

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.