THIRD TEAM Anagha Gupte  Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Anagha Gupte rises from runner-up to third. The Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst, whose “understanding of the sector is truly impressive,” according to one client, reiterated her outperform rating on UnitedHealth Group in January, at $38.24, on the belief that the Minnetonka, Minnesota–based plan provider’s guidance for this year and next was too conservative. (Gupte had upgraded the stock from market perform back in December 2009.) The company raised its forecast for this fiscal year in July, when it reported that year-over-year net earnings for the second quarter beat consensus expectations by 22 cents per share. The stock had zipped to $47.52 by the end of August, for a 24.3 percent gain that led the Standard & Poor’s 500 managed health care index by 4.6 percentage points.