Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 108,077 Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 758,423 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 108,077 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $383,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 6,291 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC now owns 467 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $147,000. WBH Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 606 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,377 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,238,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.4 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $523.48 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $523.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $563.09. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $481.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $629.32.

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.