Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UNH Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings of $27.54 per share for the year, down from their previous 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.

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

UNH has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 target price (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $593.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $582.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $548.03. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $546.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth approximately $1,117,462,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter worth $480,903,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,942,956,000 after buying an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,125.4% during the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 894,006 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $455,281,000 after buying an additional 821,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. 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.