UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Forecasted to Earn FY2023 Earnings of $24.86 Per Share (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their FY2023 EPS estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst S. James now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $24.86 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $24.95. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $591.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $24.83 per share. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s FY2024 earnings at $27.80 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.92 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $92.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.97 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 26.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.57 earnings per share.

UNH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $562.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $580.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $587.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $616.00 to $561.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $575.65.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

UNH opened at $486.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $450.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $492.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.73. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $445.68 and a one year high of $558.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Chelsea Counsel Co. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 25 LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Kalos Management Inc. bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 85.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total transaction of $2,024,760.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,772,866.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 33.65%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.