New Hampshire Trust Sells 7,029 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New Hampshire Trust lessened its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 89.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 821 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after selling 7,029 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $430,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after buying an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,807,527,000 after buying an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after purchasing an additional 861,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on UNH shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $575.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and set a $270.00 target price (down from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $441.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $288.57 per share, with a total value of $25,019,019.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock traded up $2.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $301.08. 16,265,624 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,788,348. The company has a market capitalization of $273.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50-day moving average is $430.87 and its 200 day moving average is $493.45. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS 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.