Martin Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Martin Capital Partners LLC cut its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 57.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,831 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,808 shares during the quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $545.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $501.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $533.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group 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.