What is Zacks Research's Forecast for UNH Q4 Earnings?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a report released on Wednesday, November 13th. Zacks Research analyst D. Chatterjee now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $6.68 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $675.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE UNH traded down $2.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $589.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,577,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,883,119. The company's fifty day moving average price is $582.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $550.66. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $542.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a PEG ratio of 1.74 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.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after buying an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 35,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

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.