UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) to Post FY2024 Earnings of $27.63 Per Share, Leerink Partnrs Forecasts

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 16th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now expects that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $27.63 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $27.54. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.74 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q4 2024 earnings at $6.59 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.6 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $501.29 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $488.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $515.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $462.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $554.70.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% in the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Bensler LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 7,293 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 1,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.