Conning Inc. Sells 1,118 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,793 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,118 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $34,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 6,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,272,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 67,628 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,210,000 after buying an additional 23,710 shares during the period. Harvey Investment Co. LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 457.2% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,633 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,622 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $526.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $530.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.52. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $484.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share 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.