Davidson Investment Advisors Invests $9.54 Million in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Davidson Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,857 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $9,539,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,060,000 after acquiring an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $36.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $465.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,847,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,805,500. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $519.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $560.54. The company has a market cap of $428.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.40 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on UNH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

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 dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.