UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $27.50-28.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $27.50. UnitedHealth Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 27.500-28.000 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America reiterated a buy rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $569.68.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of UNH stock opened at $493.16 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $488.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $515.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $454.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 45.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Power Corp of Canada purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 173 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.