UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lessened its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,923 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 1,039 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $20,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $441.87.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE UNH traded down $1.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $296.97. 10,351,888 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,724,002. The firm has a market cap of $269.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $248.88 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $439.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $498.65.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group 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.