Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. Decreases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,450 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $539.50 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. 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 has a market capitalization of $496.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $533.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $564.94.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought 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 $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.