Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,268 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 77.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 959 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,268 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,140 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 9,263 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,686,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 594 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 73,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $37,959,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 26,354 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,331,000 after buying an additional 2,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $523.48 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $523.11 and its 200-day moving average is $563.18. 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 $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

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.