New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 77,561 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,235,874 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 77,561 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group comprises about 0.8% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $625,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Callahan Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 43,835 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $22,174,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,539,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 35,652 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $18,035,000 after acquiring an additional 8,312 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 3,969 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $501.52 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $461.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $521.08 and its 200 day moving average is $562.03.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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.