UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Issues Earnings Results

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.1 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $543.21 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $554.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid 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 1.55%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.