Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Outlook for UNH Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Zacks Research decreased their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now expects that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $6.68 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $6.87. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.60 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q1 2025 earnings at $6.96 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $8.31 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $7.98 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $9.04 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.56 earnings per share.

UNH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $589.65 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $582.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $550.66. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $542.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,867 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $5,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 314.3% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,073 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,004,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 2,541 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 104.4% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 4,970 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 2,539 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.