Columbia Asset Management Sells 177 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Columbia Asset Management trimmed its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 26.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 499 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Grassi Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 72.0% during the 1st quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 1,350 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Matrix Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 3,691 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth $205,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $677.00 to $351.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Argus lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of UNH opened at $300.37 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $418.00 and a 200 day moving average of $488.12. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $248.88 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $272.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley purchased 86,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. The trade was a 14.63% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. The trade was a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.