SNS Financial Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

SNS Financial Group LLC cut its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,164 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $510.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $520.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $561.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $470.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 1.37 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current 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.