Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook for UNH Q4 Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) – Zacks Research upped their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the healthcare conglomerate will post earnings per share of $2.16 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.14. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth Group’s current full-year earnings is $29.54 per share.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on UNH. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $267.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $352.00 to $386.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $379.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $300.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $383.09.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $367.69 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $315.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $351.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $333.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $2.21 dividend. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $3,837,207,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at $3,846,764,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at $1,572,193,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its stake in 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 last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.