Leerink Partnrs Has Bearish Forecast for UNH Q1 Earnings

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report issued on Monday, April 21st. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now expects that the healthcare conglomerate will earn $8.32 per share 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.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on UNH. KeyCorp lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $650.00 to $575.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $652.00 to $525.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $642.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $603.05.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 1.4 %

UNH traded down $6.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $418.20. 9,255,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,482,211. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $412.02 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $380.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $503.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $534.62.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after buying an additional 906,365 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% in the 4th 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. boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.18%.

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.