Lockerman Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,138 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group accounts for approximately 1.0% of Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on UNH shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $524.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $547.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.84. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $482.95 billion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

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.