Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,354 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $13,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $51,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% during the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.4 %

UNH opened at $523.48 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $523.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $563.18.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (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 business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Stephens upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given 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.

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.