FILE PHOTO: Traders work at the post where UnitedHealth Group is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
April 16, 2019
(Reuters) – UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its adjusted earnings target for the year, driven by strength in its Optum unit as well as a rise in memberships for its health plans.
The largest U.S. health insurer raised its full year adjusted earnings forecast to between $14.50 and $14.75 per share from its prior view of $14.40 to $14.70.
The company’s Optum unit, which includes its pharmacy benefit management business, brought in sales of $26.36 billion in the quarter, a jump of nearly 12 percent from a year earlier.
Net earnings attributable to shareholders rose 22.2 percent to $3.47 billion, or $3.56 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31.
UnitedHealth reported adjusted earnings of $3.73 per share, beating estimates of $3.60 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue rose 9.3 percent to $60.31 billion, ahead of estimates of $59.7 billion.
(Reporting by Tamara Mathias and Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
