Leerink Partnrs Weighs in on UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s FY2023 Earnings (NYSE:UNH)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 18th, 2023

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH – Free Report) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs upped their FY2023 earnings estimates for UnitedHealth Group in a report released on Monday, October 16th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings of $24.95 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $24.65. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $24.83 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s Q1 2024 earnings at $6.79 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $27.90 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $31.65 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $35.96 EPS.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 13th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.33 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $92.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.41 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 26.72%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.79 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $572.00 to $596.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $587.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $578.70.

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UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $536.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $497.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $445.68 and a fifty-two week high of $558.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.11.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 11th were given a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.64%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Apeiron RIA LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,001 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,381 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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.