UnitedHealth shares move higher on earnings beat

UnitedHealth is reporting that profits slipped in the fourth quarter but it still beat most expectations.

The country's biggest health insurer on Tuesday posted a profit of profit of $3.04 billion, or $3.10 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs, came to $3.28 per share, which is 8 cents better than industry analysts expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue of $58.42 billion also topped the $57.94 billion expected on Wall Street.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, expects full-year earnings in the range of $14.40 to $14.70 per share.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on UNH at https://www.zacks.com/ap/UNH