UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07, RTT News reports. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:UNH opened at $543.21 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $499.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $554.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $563.12.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $626.79.

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.