UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Increased to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $330.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $345.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $391.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $363.38.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $274.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.40. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $234.60 and a 1-year high of $606.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $286.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.02. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 2.69%.The business had revenue of $113.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.750- EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $8.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 67.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,059,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,572,193,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 105,621 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $36,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 48.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,790 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 111.5% in the 3rd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 41,986 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,282,000 after buying an additional 22,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting UnitedHealth Group

Here are the key news stories impacting UnitedHealth Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded UNH to Outperform and set a $330 price target, citing better-than-expected expense/margin improvement (especially at Optum Health), which implies meaningful upside to earnings estimates. Raymond James upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent analyst pieces argue UNH is deeply discounted after steep declines and that the pullback creates a buying opportunity for value/long-term investors. That narrative can attract contrarian flows. Investopedia buy argument
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is adding to UNH provide a headline-driven catalyst and signal institutional conviction for some macro-focused allocators. Paul Tudor Jones buys
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis from Zacks highlights UNH’s strong earnings surprise history and argues the company has the setup to beat upcoming quarters—supporting the bullish case tied to margin recovery. Zacks on earnings upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Street coverage remains heavy and mixed: many buy/outperform ratings and a median multi-month price target well above current levels, so analyst sentiment provides a backdrop for both rallies and volatility. QuiverQuant analyst/target summary
• Negative Sentiment: Social-media and trader chatter intensified after shares fell below Berkshire’s purchase price, spotlighting year-to-date and prior-year declines; that panic plus recent large institutional sell-offs increases downside volatility risk. QuiverQuant social discussion
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk remains unresolved: the Ninth Circuit will weigh whether United can use a broad preemption defense in a Medicare Advantage fraud case—an adverse ruling could increase liability exposure and regulatory scrutiny. Ninth Circuit legal risk

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.