Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 56 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,408 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,966,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,878 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Elm3 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $403,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 129,471 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $65,493,000 after purchasing an additional 11,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $539.50 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $532.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $564.77. The stock has a market cap of $496.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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 stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.