Cantor Fitzgerald Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for UNH

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report released on Monday, December 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst S. James now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $27.60 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $27.56. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $644.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.60 per share.

UNH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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. HSBC lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $626.84.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $533.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $490.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $436.38 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $586.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $559.79.

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

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid 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 1.57%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after purchasing an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,884,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $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 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.