Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Outlook for UNH Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs reduced their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 21st. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $8.32 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $8.38. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $29.54 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for UnitedHealth Group’s FY2029 earnings at $44.82 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Argus cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $608.00.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $427.10 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $417.12 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $508.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $537.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $390.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.91 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,514,178,000 after buying an additional 861,854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.