Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.02 Billion Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated $UNH

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 19.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,836,477 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 959,038 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $2,015,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UNH. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $1,059,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,572,193,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 105,621 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 48.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 111.5% in the third quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 41,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,282,000 after buying an additional 22,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UNH shares. Truist Financial cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $425.00 to $389.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $415.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.13.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $282.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $606.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.41.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $113.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.38 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.81 EPS. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.02%.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.