UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Forecast & Price Target

$377.06 +1.85 (+0.49%)

Closing price 09/18/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$377.15 +0.09 (+0.02%)

As of 09/18/2026 07:58 PM Eastern

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UnitedHealth Group - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 27 Analyst Ratings

Sell
0

Hold
7

Buy
20

Based on 27 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for UnitedHealth Group in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 27 analysts, 7 have given a hold rating, 19 have given a buy rating, and 1 has given a strong buy rating for UNH.

Consensus Price Target

$456.56
21.08% Upside

According to the 27 analysts' twelve-month price targets for UnitedHealth Group, the average price target is $456.56. The highest price target for UNH is $529.00, while the lowest price target for UNH is $330.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 21.08% from the current price of $377.06.

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

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UNH Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 9/19/25 to 9/19/26	1 Month Ago 8/20/25 to 8/20/26	3 Months Ago 6/21/25 to 6/21/26	1 Year Ago 9/19/24 to 9/19/25
Strong Buy	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	19 Buy rating(s)	20 Buy rating(s)	20 Buy rating(s)	16 Buy rating(s)
Hold	7 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)
Sell	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$456.56	$455.92	$409.75	$358.95
Forecasted Upside	21.08% Upside	18.54% Upside	2.22% Upside	6.60% Upside
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy

UNH Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

UNH Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock vs. The Competition

Type	UnitedHealth Group	Healthcare Companies	Broader Market
Consensus Rating Score	2.78	2.30	2.53
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	21.08% Upside	754.91% Upside	18.43% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent UNH News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

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Date	Brokerage	Analyst	Action	Rating	Price Target	Report Date Upside/Downside
9/14/2026	Zacks Research 5 of 5 stars		Downgrade	Strong-Buy ➝ Hold
9/2/2026	Sanford C. Bernstein 3 of 5 stars	Lance Wilkes 4 of 5 stars	Reiterated Rating	Outperform
8/27/2026	Erste Group Bank 5 of 5 stars		Downgrade	Buy ➝ Hold
7/28/2026	Weiss Ratings Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Hold (C) ➝ Hold (C-)
7/21/2026	BMO Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$512.00	+18.68%
7/21/2026	DA Davidson Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$512.00	+18.68%
7/21/2026	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Lisa Gill Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$466.00 ➝ $516.00	+19.23%
7/20/2026	Mizuho Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ann Hynes Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$470.00 ➝ $493.00	+16.87%
7/20/2026	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Kevin Fischbeck Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy
7/20/2026	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Andrew Mok Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$429.00 ➝ $441.00	+4.52%
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7/17/2026	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Erin Wright Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$468.00 ➝ $529.00	+21.54%
7/17/2026	Oppenheimer Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Michael Wiederhorn Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$420.00 ➝ $500.00	+15.96%
7/17/2026	Royal Bank Of Canada Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ben Hendrix Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$463.00 ➝ $478.00	+10.04%
7/17/2026	UBS Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	A.J. Rice Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$460.00 ➝ $490.00	+15.77%
7/16/2026	Piper Sandler Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jessica Tassan Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Set Target		$477.00	+8.59%
7/16/2026	Robert W. Baird Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Michael Ha Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Underperform ➝ Neutral	$287.00 ➝ $453.00	+4.98%
7/14/2026	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ryan Langston Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Hold	$337.00 ➝ $430.00	+0.15%
7/14/2026	Truist Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	David MacDonald Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$440.00 ➝ $480.00	+11.38%
7/14/2026	KeyCorp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Matthew Gillmor Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$400.00 ➝ $475.00	+10.63%
7/13/2026	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Stephen Baxter Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight	$397.00 ➝ $485.00	+12.82%
7/6/2026	HSBC Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Sidharth Sahoo Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Hold	$300.00 ➝ $380.00	-8.56%
6/17/2026	Leerink Partners Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Whit Mayo Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$400.00 ➝ $462.00	+13.22%
6/11/2026	Cantor Fitzgerald Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Overweight
5/27/2026	HC Wainwright Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Set Target		$492.00	+30.34%
4/22/2026	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	David Toung Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Hold ➝ Buy	$400.00	+15.52%
4/20/2026	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	David Windley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Buy	$340.00 ➝ $373.00	+15.26%
4/1/2026	Raymond James Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	John Ransom Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Market Perform ➝ Outperform	$330.00	+22.11%
1/6/2026	Evercore Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Strong-Buy
10/29/2025	Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Downgrade	Buy ➝ Hold	$333.00	-9.69%
10/14/2025	The Goldman Sachs Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Scott Fidel Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Buy	$406.00	+13.15%
5/20/2025	Wolfe Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Justin Lake Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform	$501.00 ➝ $390.00	+21.90%
5/19/2025	TD Securities Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ryan Langston Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy ➝ Hold	$520.00 ➝ $308.00	-1.39%
12/5/2024	Stephens Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Overweight	$605.00 ➝ $675.00	+10.54%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Saturday at 02:57 AM ET.

Should I Buy UnitedHealth Group Stock? UNH Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Thursday, September 17, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these UnitedHealth Group pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

UnitedHealth Group
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in UnitedHealth Group:

UnitedHealth Group recently reported strong second-quarter results, beating consensus estimates for both earnings per share and revenue, which demonstrates the company's ability to outperform market expectations and supports a bullish outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year.
The company has raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance to a range of $19.50 to $20.00 per share, signaling management confidence in its financial trajectory and providing a clear path for potential earnings growth that may attract long-term investors seeking stability.
UnitedHealth Group offers a dividend yield of 2.47%, with a quarterly payment of $2.32 per share scheduled for September 22, 2026, providing a reliable income stream for investors who prioritize cash flow and consistent payouts in their portfolios.
The stock is currently trading at $374.87, which is below the average analyst price target of $456.56, suggesting that the shares may be undervalued relative to sell-side expectations and offering potential upside for investors entering the position now.
UnitedHealth Group is leveraging artificial intelligence across its insurance operations to drive long-term efficiency and growth, a strategic initiative that reinforces its competitive positioning and may help reduce costs and improve service delivery in the healthcare sector.

UnitedHealth Group
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in UnitedHealth Group for these reasons:

Zacks Research recently downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting a more cautious outlook on the stock's near-term performance and suggesting that some analysts believe the current price may not offer sufficient upside potential.
The company is facing cost pressures in its commercial health plans, where medical costs are running modestly above the 11% expected, which could impact profit margins and indicate challenges in managing expenses within a key segment of its business.
UnitedHealth Group is selling an interest in underperforming WellMed clinics in Florida to TPG, a move that underscores operational challenges and cost pressures within its Optum Health segment, potentially signaling a need for a broader operational reset that may weigh on near-term sentiment.
CEO Patrick Conway has recently sold shares of the company's stock, including a transaction on August 21, 2026, where he sold 1,169 shares at an average price of $390.00, which some investors may interpret as a lack of confidence in the stock's short-term prospects or a desire to diversify personal holdings.
Medicare Advantage payments remain restrictive, and management expects Medicaid margins to stay pressured for 2026, indicating that regulatory and reimbursement headwinds continue to pose risks to the company's profitability in its government-sponsored health plan segments.

UNH Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 27 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for UnitedHealth Group is $456.56, with a high forecast of $529.00 and a low forecast of $330.00.

27 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for UnitedHealth Group in the last year. There are currently 7 hold ratings, 19 buy ratings and 1 strong buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" UNH shares.

According to analysts, UnitedHealth Group's stock has a predicted upside of 21.08% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, UnitedHealth Group's stock had 3 upgrades and 3 downgrades by analysts.

UnitedHealth Group has been rated by research analysts at Bank of America, Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, DA Davidson, Erste Group Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyCorp, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird, Royal Bank Of Canada, Sanford C. Bernstein, TD Cowen, Truist Financial, UBS Group, Weiss Ratings, Wells Fargo & Company, and Zacks Research in the past 90 days.

Analysts like UnitedHealth Group more than other "healthcare" companies. The consensus rating for UnitedHealth Group is Moderate Buy while the average consensus rating for "healthcare" companies is Hold. Learn more on how UNH compares to other companies.

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MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for UnitedHealth Group analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 9/14/2026.

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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Forecast & Price Target