DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Humana stock plunges on dismal 2024 forecast, as insurers face soaring medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShares of Humana plummeted on Thursday after the health insurer issued dismal full-year earnings guidance, citing soaring medical costs that are dogging the broader insurance industry. The guidance adds to Wall Street's concerns about health insurance company profits falling as medical costs jump. UnitedHealth on Friday also reported its own jump in medical costs, though it was less extreme than Humana's. Its forecast dragged down other health insurance stocks. But unlike Humana, the insurer forecast 2024 earnings above estimates on Wednesday, after higher premiums in its commercial business helped control medical costs in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Luke Sharrett, Cigna, Humana Organizations: Humana Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, Humana, CVS Health, Elevance, Medicare Locations: Louisville , Kentucky, U.S

☆ Here are the reasons why a new Wall Street upgrade of Apple is juicing the stock so much
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. Apple got an upgrade from Bank of America, which took its rating on the stock to a buy from neutral. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Dow, UnitedHealth, Jim, Nelson Peltz, Disney, that's, Bob Iger, Ike Perlmutter, Peltz, Jim Cramer's Organizations: CNBC, Nasdaq, Dow, Humana, Apple, Bank of America, Disney, Marvel Entertainment Locations: Bank

☆ Investor shares his top 5 picks to play an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"To us, it looks pretty compelling, [a] pretty consistent business, and it's trading at a discount." Such concerns aren't holding back Bailey's bet on McDonald's as the fast-food giant continues to top investor expectations. MCD 1Y mountain McDonald's shares over the last year "To me, it feels a little overblown. Bailey views Progressive as a "contrarian" play in financials, seeing it gaining share from competitors such as Geico and State Farm. "That's a pretty compelling idea for us."

Persons: Mike Bailey, I've, Bailey, Wall, You've, Wall Street's, Bailey's Organizations: Capital Partners, CNBC, Amazon, Microsoft, UnitedHealth Locations: financials

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to the biggest reports this week, including JPMorgan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-07 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Friday UnitedHealth is set to report earnings before the bell, with a conference call scheduled for 8:45 a.m. JPMorgan Chase is set to report earnings before the market opens. Management has said it will disclose severance costs and job cuts along with fourth quarter earnings." Delta Air Lines is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a call at 10 a.m. What history shows: Bank of America beats earnings estimates 79% of the time, per Bespoke.

Persons: Wells, John Butters, Butters, UNH, UnitedHealth, CVS, JPMorgan Chase, Hugh Son, Jane, DAL, Leslie Josephs Organizations: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Delta Airlines, CNBC, LSEG, JPMorgan, First, Management, Delta Air Lines, CNBC CNBC, Delta Locations: Wells Fargo

☆ These are the top 10 holdings of the Mormon Church's $47 billion stock portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The investment arm of the Mormon Church revealed some of its holdings in a 13F filing on Tuesday. These are the top 10 holdings of the Mormon Church's stock portfolio as of September 30. AdvertisementThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' has an investment portfolio topping $100 billion that includes $47 billion invested in stocks. AdvertisementThe church reports its stock holdings on a quarterly basis, and a recent 13F filing revealed its top holdings as of September 30. These are the Mormon Church's top 10 stocks holdings at the end of the third quarter.

Persons: —, of Jesus Christ, Tesla Brandon Bell, Ethan Miller, Microsoft Satya Nadella, Sean Gallup, Justin Sullivan Organizations: Mormon, Service, of Jesus, SEC, Advisors, Exxon Mobil, Mastercard Reuters, UnitedHealth, Reuters, Nvidia, Microsoft, Getty, Apple

☆ UnitedHealth Group pops after posting quarterly results. Here’s how to play the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Christina Falso | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Market Movers rounded up the latest reactions on UnitedHealth Group from investors and analysts. The pros, including Jim Cramer , discussed the health-care giant after it released third-quarter adjusted earnings of $6.56 per share on revenue of $92.4 billion , both of which beat analysts' estimates. UnitedHealth closed the trading day up 2.6%, ending at $539.40 a share.

Persons: Jim Cramer, UnitedHealth Organizations: UnitedHealth Group

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Boeing, Dollar General, JPMorgan Chase, Netflix and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Friday, Gordon Haskett upgraded the stock to buy , saying Dollar General's latest leadership change could help stabilize the company. Wells Fargo — The bank stock gained close to 3% after Wells Fargo posted third-quarter results that beat expectations. Citigroup — Shares of the New York-based bank rose 1.4% after posting its third-quarter results . Citigroup reported $1.63 in earnings per share, or $1.52 per share, excluding the effect of divestitures. Post Holdings — Shares of the packaged food company gained 2% after JPMorgan initiated coverage with an overweight rating on shares.

Persons: Todd Vasos, Gordon Haskett, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, LSEG, JD.com, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth, CNBC's Hakyung Kim, Samantha Subin, Pia Singh, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound Organizations: Boeing —, Boeing, JPMorgan, Revenue, LSEG, Citigroup —, Citigroup, PNC Financial, PNC, Oil, EOG, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Progressive, Post Holdings, Netflix, Wolfe Research, Dow, United Food, Commercial Workers International Union, Hormel Locations: York, China

☆ PepsiCo is among the most oversold S&P 500 stocks. Here are the others
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The S & P 500 entered Friday's session down for the week, but a 1% rally put it on track to snap a four-week slide. Here are some of the most oversold names: PepsiCo is one of the most oversold companies in the S & P 500, scoring an RSI of 5.7 and a consensus price target implying more than 26% upside. Other oversold stocks include utility company NextEra Energy , hospitality and entertainment company MGM Resorts International and financial services firm State Street . Here are the 10 most overbought stocks in the S & P 500: Activision Blizzard made the list, with an RSI of 74.15. Pharmaceutical company McKesson and risk management software provider Assurant are also among the most overbought companies in the S & P 500.

Persons: Christopher Horvers, Activision Blizzard, UnitedHealth, it's Organizations: Group, PepsiCo, Dow Jones, CNBC Pro, Wall Street, Gatorade, Barclays, JPMorgan, HSBC, NextEra Energy, MGM Resorts International, Activision, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, . Pharmaceutical, Seagate Technology Locations: overbought

☆ Turn to these stocks for high dividend growth and free cash flow yield, Wolfe says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As the economy slows down, investors will want to play defense with dividend strategies, according to Wolfe Research. "In a later cycle environment, dividend growth becomes scarce and investors tend to pay up for companies with high dividend growth," analyst Chris Senyek wrote in a note last week. Therefore, the strategy is to look for names with both high dividend growth and a high free cash flow yield, since investors look to cash flow to support further dividend growth, he said. Comcast has an average analyst rating of overweight and has nearly 10% upside to the average price target, according to FactSet. Lennar is also well-liked by analysts, with an average rating of overweight and about 20% upside to the average price target, per FactSet.

Persons: Chris Senyek, Senyek, Peacock, Morgan Stanley, Benjamin Swinburne, Lennar, Raymond James, Buck Horne, UnitedHealth, Bernstein, Lance Wilkes, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wolfe Research, Comcast, Media, CNBC

As corporate earnings season reaches its peak in the coming weeks, Morgan Stanley advises traders to look for certain stock plays. Morgan Stanley chief equity strategist Mike Wilson said in a Monday note that he expects "performance dispersion to rise" as more companies report their earnings. Wilson recommends investors choose stocks that exhibit high earnings quality, strong free cash flow generation and improving earnings revision. Nonetheless, more than 90% of analysts covering the stock rate it a buy, according to Refinitiv. The company is set to report earnings Tuesday before the bell.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Mike Wilson, Wilson, Morgan, Morgan Stanley's, Dara Mohsenian, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Dow Jones, Microsoft, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Health, UnitedHealth, Humana, Elevance, Dow, Health Care, SDPR Fund, Mobile, General Motors, GM, Colgate, Palmolive, Comcast, CNBC Locations: U.S, NBCUniversal

☆ UnitedHealth is worth buying and can rally nearly 25%, Bernstein says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

UnitedHealth is worth buying as it still trades at a cheap valuation coming out of a good earnings report, according to Bernstein. Analyst Lance Wilkes upgraded the health insurance stock to outperform from market perform and raised his price target by $8 to $603. Now, he said those concerns are priced into the stock and valuation has fallen (from around 1.3 times earnings to 0.9 times earnings) to a level that undervalues the long-term growth opportunity. Despite the post-earnings rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average member is still down nearly 9% in 2023 despite the broader market's rise. UnitedHealth trades at a 0.9 multiple relative to the S & P 500, near the Medicare-for-All lows of 0.85.

Persons: Bernstein, Lance Wilkes, Wilkes, UnitedHealth, That's, —, Michael Bloom Organizations: Dow Jones Industrial Locations: Monday's

☆ UnitedHealth stock jumps after earnings top estimates despite rising medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

UnitedHealth Group' s stock price jumped Friday after the health-care conglomerate reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations despite rising medical costs. UnitedHealth Group is the biggest health-care company in the U.S. by market cap and revenue, and is even bigger than the nation's largest banks. Given its size, UnitedHealth Group is considered a bellwether for the broader health insurance sector. UnitedHealth Care said that was driven by the previously noted uptick in elective surgeries and outpatient care activity, primarily among seniors. But UnitedHealth Group executives indicated that the trend may be reversing.

Persons: UnitedHealth, –, John Rex, Rex, Goldman Sachs Organizations: UnitedHealth, Refinitiv, Healthcare, Analysts, Goldman, Rex . Insurance Locations: Minnesota, U.S

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: UnitedHealth, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, JetBlue and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase — Shares fell slightly even after the bank reported stronger-than-expected results for the second quarter, as it benefited from higher interest rates and better-than-expected bond trading. Wells Fargo — Wells Fargo shares rose slightly after the Wall Street firm topped second-quarter expectations. The Wall Street firm also said AT&T's exposure to cable may limit the upside for shares. Alcoa — The aluminum stock fell 4.9% following a downgrade to neutral from overweight by JPMorgan. Eli Lilly — The pharmaceutical stock rose 3% in midday trading.

Persons: JPMorgan Chase, Wells, UnitedHealth, Eli Lilly, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Sarah Min, Michelle Fox Organizations: JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase —, Elevance, Citigroup —, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines — JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Microsoft, UBS, Blackrock —, Alcoa, Progressive Locations: Wells, York

☆ Stock futures are little changed ahead of big bank earnings: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures were little changed Thursday evening as investors awaited earnings reports from a slate of big banks. Futures tied to the S&P 500 were down by 0.04%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures inched lower by 27 points, or 0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were flat. In regular trading, the S&P 500 climbed 0.85%. The S&P 500 is up 2.5% on the week, while the Dow is up 1.9%.

Persons: Bill Merz, we'd, Baird's Ross Mayfield, Dow, Wells, UnitedHealth Organizations: Futures, Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, Nvidia, Dow, Investors, U.S, Bank Wealth Management, Federal Reserve, JPMorgan, Citi, BlackRock, University of Michigan Locations: Wells Fargo

☆ A.I. could mean a 'decade of health care is upon us.' Here are some stock picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Investors hoping to capture more upside from artificial intelligence could turn to a sector that's underperformed this year, and maybe not immediately associated with AI: Health care. Greater drug discovery The bull case for health care boils down to several factors including improvements made in drug discovery. Cox added that one overlooked health care and AI beneficiary would be Amazon , which he called a "sleeper" pick for investors. This year, it closed a $3.9 billion transaction for primary health care provider One Medical . The investor also called Rockwell Automation one of his stock picks that could benefit from AI in health care.

Persons: Jamie Cox, Morgan Stanley, Cox, Mizuho, Rockwell Organizations: Nvidia, Harris Financial, Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Exscientia, Amazon, Rockwell Automation, . UnitedHealth Locations: U.S, U.K

☆ Pickleball is bad news for health insurance stocks, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A sport that is making many older Americans more active could be backfiring for health insurance companies, according to UBS. Pickleball is a tennis-adjacent sport that has exploded in popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic, attracting millions of new players and celebrity investors . "After analyzing the growth in pickleball as well as the nature and frequency of related injuries, we conducted a bottom-up analysis of medical costs. In total, we estimate $250-500 mn of medical costs directly attributable to pickleball and see potential for greater medical costs indirectly linked to pickleball," the note said. All said, we estimate that pickleball medical costs could be driving 5-10% of the unexpected medical cost trend this year," the note said.

Persons: Andrew Mok, Goldman Sachs, Mok, UNH, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: UBS, Pickleball, Insurance, Medicare Locations: pickleball, UnitedHealth, Friday's

Shortly after the opening bell Wednesday, we'll be buying 15 shares of Humana (HUM), at roughly $473 apiece. Following the trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 100 shares of HUM, increasing its weighting in the portfolio to 1.83%, from 1.56%. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: we'll, Jim Cramer's, Johnson, UNH, Jim Cramer, Jim, Owen Franken Organizations: Humana, Johnson, GE Healthcare Technologies, UnitedHealth, CNBC

☆ One of America's biggest health insurers just issued a warning that healthcare costs are about to soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An insurance exec warned of higher medical costs as Americans start to get more elective procedures. It suggests people are getting care they put off during the height of the pandemic. Older Americans are starting to get more procedures like hip and knee surgeries, and it's driving up how much one of the biggest US health insurers is spending on medical care. The "strong" level of care older Americans are seeking out suggests that people are getting more comfortable getting procedures they put off during the pandemic, the UnitedHealth Group executive said. The stocks of health insurance companies tumbled on Wednesday following the warning.

Persons: John Rex, Goldman, Jodi Jacobson, Stryker, Medtronic Organizations: UnitedHealth, UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Tenet Locations: Goldman Sachs, Aetna

Major equity indexes have been largely stable during the early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors expect to show tepid results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 79.62 points, or 0.23%, to 33,897.01; the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.35 points, or 0.01%, at 4,154.52; and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 3.81 points, or 0.03%, at 12,157.23. The defensive utilities group (.SPLRCU) gained most among S&P 500 sectors, rising 0.8%. S&P 500 companies overall are expected to post a 4.8% decline in first-quarter earnings from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv IBES. The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and one new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 123 new lows.

Major equity indexes have been largely stable during the early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors expect to show tepid results. The defensive utilities group (.SPLRCU) gained most among S&P 500 sectors, rising 0.7%. S&P 500 companies overall are expected to post a 4.8% decline in first-quarter earnings from the year-earlier period, according to Refinitiv IBES. Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL.N) surged 23% after the company posted stronger-than-expected earnings, helping lift the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE.P) 4%. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 111 new lows.

☆ UnitedHealth flexes market and political power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UnitedHealth (UNH.N) powered on in the first quarter. Revenue grew 15% compared with the same period last year as the firm added about 2 million customers to its insurance arm. The company’s Optum division, which provides medical care among other things, expanded even faster as it keeps adding services. Health insurance is a highly concentrated business, giving UnitedHealth power over markets in which it operates. Further cuts may be a risk, but history suggests UnitedHealth will keep chugging along.

UnitedHealth has by far the biggest weighting in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . The 126-year-old blue-chip benchmark is price-weighted, meaning stocks with higher share prices are given the most weight. The health-care stock closed Wednesday at $520.97, while the stock with the second-highest impact on the 30-stock Dow, Goldman Sachs , stood at $327.37, nearly $200 less than UnitedHealth. While almost all other equity indexes are weighted by market capitalization, including the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite , that doesn't mean UnitedHealth's power is diminished. The insurer is so large, with a $486 billion market cap, it ranks as the ninth-biggest company in the S & P 500.

☆ This ETF with a yield of almost 10% faces big earnings tests this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The first wave of first-quarter earnings will put two of the biggest holdings of a red-hot ETF under the microscope. The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) , which uses stock selection to find value plays and equity-linked notes to generate additional yield, has a 12-month rolling dividend yield of more than 11% and a 30-day SEC yield of 9.59%. But stock selection is still a big part of JEPI's performance, and earnings season can put that to the test. Two of the fund's top holdings, as of Tuesday, are set to report earnings this week: Progressive and UnitedHealth . Moreover, the Mayfield, Ohio-based Progressive only accounts for 0.25% in the SPDR S & P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) , but has a 1.6% weighting in JEPI.

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to trading the start of a big reporting season this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Thursday Delta Air Lines is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a conference call with management at 10 a.m. This quarter: Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue to have jumped more than 45% from the year-earlier period, Refinitiv data shows. Friday JPMorgan Chase is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a call with management at 8:30 a.m. What history shows: FactSet data shows JPMorgan Chase topped earnings estimates in eight of the last 10 quarters. What history shows: Bespoke data shows UnitedHealth beats earnings estimates 93% of the time.

☆ Energy and health-care stocks dominate this week's best performers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Health-care names, such as UnitedHealth Group and Johnson & Johnson , also outperformed. About 73% of analysts covering the health-care stock consider it a buying opportunity, and analysts predict it could rise 17%. UnitedHealth shares are down more than 3% in 2023. Johnson & Johnson shares also outperformed this week, up 6.7%. This week, Johnson & Johnson said it would pay $8.9 billion over the next 25 years to settle allegations that talc in its baby powder and other products caused cancer.

Organizations: & $

Search resuls for: ". UnitedHealth"

25 mentions found