Liberty Capital Management Inc. Buys 48 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,053 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 1.6% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $7,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. LJI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,211,222 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $615,058,000 after purchasing an additional 6,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $526.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $484.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $529.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $564.37. 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.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. 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 firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.