Q4 EPS Estimates for UnitedHealth Group Cut by KeyCorp

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Equities researchers at KeyCorp dropped their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp analyst M. Gillmor now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $6.77 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $6.93. KeyCorp currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $27.61 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q1 2025 earnings at $7.50 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $7.37 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $7.60 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.35 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $29.83 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $34.05 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on UNH. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.9 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $524.14 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $556.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $561.20. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The firm has a market cap of $482.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after acquiring an additional 563,554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $11,440,133,000 after buying an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,061,916 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,884,019,000 after acquiring an additional 193,800 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 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.