AGP Franklin LLC Buys Shares of 6,072 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,072 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $3,072,000. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.9% of AGP Franklin LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,778,636 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $1,039,933,000 after acquiring an additional 180,479 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on UNH. Mizuho raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock traded down $128.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $456.10. The company had a trading volume of 29,048,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,443. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $438.50 and a 12-month high of $630.73. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $512.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $540.65. The company has a market capitalization of $417.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The firm had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.