WASHINGTON TRUST Co Lowers Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,263 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $523.48 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $523.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.