Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Outlook for UNH Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $27.54 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $27.61. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.61 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q3 2025 earnings at $7.93 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $30.11 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $8.09 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $34.03 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $592.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $582.95 and a 200 day moving average of $548.34. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $544.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 1.78 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.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after buying an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Company 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.