How Is UnitedHealth Group's Stock Performance Compared to Other Healthcare Stocks?
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Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) operates as a healthcare company in the United States and internationally. With a market cap of $267.6 billion, the company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. UNH offers health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services, and more.
Companies worth $200 billion or more are generally described as "mega-cap stocks." UNH fits right into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, reflecting its substantial size, influence, and dominance in the healthcare sector.
UNH touched its 52-week high of $630.73 on Nov. 11 and is currently trading 52.7% below that peak. Meanwhile, UNH stock has dropped 37.2% over the past three months, lagging behind the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLV) 11.7% decline during the same time frame.
UNH has underperformed the healthcare sector over the longer term as well. UNH stock has declined 41.1% on a YTD basis and 40.8% over the past 52 weeks, compared to XLV’s 4.4% dip in 2025 and 7.8% drop over the past year.
To confirm the recent downturn, UNH has traded mostly below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since mid-April.
UNH stock tanked 22.4% following the release of its Q1 earnings on Apr. 17. The company’s revenues grew $9.8 billion year-over-year to $109.6 billion, driven primarily by serving people more comprehensively across the enterprise. Moreover, its net margin came in at 5.7%, compared to a net loss of 1.4% in the previous year’s quarter. UNH’s adjusted EPS for the quarter amounted to $7.20 and failed to surpass the consensus estimates marginally.
UNH’s peer Elevance Health, Inc. (ELV) stock declined 6.2% over the past six months and 27.2% over the past year, outperforming the stock.
Analysts remain highly optimistic about the stock’s prospects. Among the 24 analysts covering the UNH stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” As of writing, UNH’s mean price target of $392.59 represents a 31.7% upside potential.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.