Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Trims Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 9,793 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.2% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,869,320,000 after buying an additional 107,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UNH has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $527.31 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $526.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $563.96. The company has a market capitalization of $485.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company 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.