UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 44.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,877,439 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,971,789 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,521,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,154 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 2,736 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,781 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,599,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNH shares. Barclays upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $310.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $378.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.12.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $311.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $345.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $282.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.47. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $622.83.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $113.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.19 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 19.23% and a net margin of 4.04%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.14%.

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.