Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,086 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UNH. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,197,167 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,869,320,000 after buying an additional 107,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,619,549 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,325,125,000 after buying an additional 12,322 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $465.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $428.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $519.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $560.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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.