UnitedHealth Group (UNH), the biggest player in the US health insurance industry, issued solid financials for the first quarter of 2017. Revenues increased 9.4% y-o-y to $48.7 bn surpassing consensus estimate of $48.2 bn. The improvement was driven by business expansion in both health care benefits and health care services. The company’s health benefits segment – UnitedHealthcare – witnessed revenue growth of 11.8% to $40.1 bn, while revenues from Optum improved 7.9% to $21.2 bn. The company’s Medical membership increased by 735,000 during the quarter. Adjusted earnings per share jumped 30.9% to $2.37 comfortably beating analysts’ average projection of $2.18.UnitedHealth ended Q4 with cash and short-term investments of $19.4 bn (up 45.8% from the 2016-end level) and long-term debt of $26.2 bn. Debt-to-total-capital ratio was down 550 basis points y-o-y to 43.5%. In the reported quarter, the company generated adjusted operating cash flow of $2 bn and repurchased $682 mn worth of shares. A quarterly dividend was 62.5 cents per share, which offers annualized dividend yield of about 1.5%.Encouraged by strong Q1, UnitedHealth’s management improved its full year 2017 guidance. The company now expects annual revenues of $200 bn, up from $197-199 bn projected earlier. Adjusted EPS forecast was raised to $9.65-9.86 from $9.30-9.60. The company also plans to generate cash flows from operations of $12 bn. My outlook for UnitedHealth remains positive. I believe that the company will continue to benefit from higher membership, a strong balance sheet and a niche market position going forward. I expect UnitedHealth’s shares to continue growth, with medium-term target at $185. $UNH, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated / D