Avestar Capital LLC Buys 518 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,304 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $3,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 107,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $527.31 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $524.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $563.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on UNH. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stephens increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.