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

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.63 by $0.28, RTT News reports. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The stock has a market cap of $441.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on UNH shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $605.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective 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 report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $569.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,210,004,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,372,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540,538 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,494,100 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,679,401,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,289,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,192 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.