Q1 EPS Forecast for UnitedHealth Group Raised by Analyst

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a note issued to investors on Thursday, March 6th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $7.42 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $7.24. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group's current full-year earnings is $29.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group's Q2 2026 earnings at $7.65 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.83 earnings per share.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $629.32.

Remove Ads

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH traded down $3.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $482.40. 1,679,606 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,921,525. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $512.82 and a 200 day moving average of $552.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $441.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $26,060,000 after purchasing an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $4,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.