UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07, RTT News reports. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group updated its FY25 guidance to $29.50-30.00 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.1 %

UNH stock opened at $510.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $551.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.62. The stock has a market cap of $469.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UNH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $627.74.

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.