Research Analysts Offer Predictions for UNH Q4 Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Zacks Research lowered their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a report issued on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now expects that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings of $6.68 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $6.87. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.60 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q1 2025 earnings at $6.96 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $8.31 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $7.98 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $9.04 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.4 %

UNH stock opened at $589.65 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $542.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $582.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $550.66. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. 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 currently 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.