Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Buys 8,312 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,652 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,312 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group accounts for 1.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $18,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $458,929,000 after purchasing an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $276,785,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.4 %

UNH stock opened at $523.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $523.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $563.00. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

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.