Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,517 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,260 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 1.3% of Buckingham Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UNH. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stephens upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $36.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $465.58. The company had a trading volume of 19,847,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,805,500. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $519.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $560.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.