New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 38,853 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 811,607 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 38,853 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 0.9% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of UnitedHealth Group worth $410,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 258,833 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,374,000 after purchasing an additional 121,180 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,069 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 212,295 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $123,025,000 after buying an additional 21,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leisure Capital Management raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 2,932 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,714,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.7 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $531.31 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $524.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.71. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $488.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (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 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

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.