North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,023 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,447 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $12,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on UNH. Mizuho cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America cut UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $441.87.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $294.99. 19,619,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,653,563. The company has a market cap of $267.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average is $448.25 and its 200 day moving average is $501.48.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.