Brokers Issue Forecasts for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald increased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst S. James now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings of $27.56 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $27.50. Cantor Fitzgerald currently 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 $27.68 per share.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down previously from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday. Argus increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.16.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of UNH opened at $571.30 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $608.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $584.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $532.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $527.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 3.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.56 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,755,280,000 after buying an additional 544,740 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 35,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,920,039,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.70%.

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.