Stephens Inc. AR Has $17.12 Million Position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,845 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 8,601 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $17,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $526.68 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $484.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $529.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $564.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UNH. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.