UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 27.500-28.000 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 27.520. The company issued revenue guidance of -. UnitedHealth Group also updated its FY24 guidance to $27.50-28.00 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $478.99 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $441.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $489.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $515.38.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 4.05% and a return on equity of 26.50%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

UNH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $566.00 to $571.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a buy rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $569.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,527,306.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $359,000. O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. Ashford Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,755 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 108.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 318,659 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $167,765,000 after acquiring an additional 165,685 shares during the period. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.