Q2 EPS Estimate for UnitedHealth Group Increased by Analyst

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Stock analysts at Leerink Partnrs boosted their Q2 2026 earnings estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note issued on Wednesday, September 24th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now anticipates that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $4.42 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $4.35. 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 Q4 2026 earnings at $3.90 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.34 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $23.62 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $27.77 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $31.09 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on UNH. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $353.00 to $317.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $337.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.95.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $344.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $301.20 and its 200 day moving average is $360.42. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,519,620,000 after buying an additional 5,583,343 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $13,537,859,000 after buying an additional 2,486,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,624,411,000 after purchasing an additional 675,075 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $3,837,207,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,729,912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

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.