UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.28 EPS

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. UnitedHealth Group updated its FY 2024 guidance to 27.500-28.000 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $27.50-28.00 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 2.2 %

UNH stock opened at $478.99 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $554.70. The firm has a market cap of $441.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $515.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.97%.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $359,000. O Dell Group LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Ashford Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,755 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after buying an additional 3,131 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 318,659 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $167,765,000 after buying an additional 165,685 shares during the period. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UNH. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $607.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.68.

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.