Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Purchases New Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 305,921 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $154,753,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for about 1.8% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital & Planning LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 491 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $22,384,000 after purchasing an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $3,498,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,233,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 73,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $37,067,000 after acquiring an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UNH. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $356.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.0%

UNH traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $298.11. The stock had a trading volume of 16,213,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,743,288. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $248.88 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business 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. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This represents a 14.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,986.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.