# UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH)

> UnitedHealth Group sells health insurance and provides medical care, pharmacy services, and health care technology and administration.

- Exchange: NYSE · Sector: Healthcare · Industry: Healthcare Plans
- Headquarters: Eden Prairie, Minnesota
- Founded: 1977
- Employees: More than 390,000 (December 31, 2025)
- SEC CIK: 0000731766 ([filings on EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000731766))
- Full page: https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/unh
- Data as of: price 2026-09-29; newest filing used 2026-08-10; latest fiscal period ended 2026-06-30

## Grade

**B** on the growth-and-cash rubric, 4 of 5 checks passed.

| Check | Result | Now | Before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Revenue growing overall | passed | $450.1B | $348.5B |
| Revenue growing recently | passed | $450.1B | $447.6B |
| Free cash flow positive | passed | $23.6B |  |
| Free cash flow growing overall | failed | $23.6B | $38.2B |
| Free cash flow growing recently | passed | $23.6B | $16.1B |

Business quality (the + / − mark): 3 of 6 checks passed.

| Check | Result | Now | Before |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Profitable | passed | 3.1% |  |
| Healthy profit margin | failed | 3.1% |  |
| Strong operating margin | failed | 4.8% |  |
| Good return on equity | failed | 14.1% |  |
| Debt under control | passed | 0.83 |  |
| Turns sales into cash | passed | 5.2% |  |

How the grade works: the letter counts failed checks (none → A, one → B, two → C, three → D, four or more → F). It is built from SEC filings only — the share price never enters it — and describes the business, not whether the stock is worth buying.

## Key figures

In US dollars, as filed.

| Measure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Revenue, trailing twelve months | $450.1B |
| Net income, trailing twelve months | $14.1B |
| Free cash flow, trailing twelve months | $23.6B |
| Net margin | 3.1% |
| Operating margin | 4.8% |
| Return on equity | 14.1% |
| Debt to equity | 0.83 |
| Diluted EPS, trailing twelve months | $15.55 |
| Share price | $374.95 |
| Market value | $336.6B |
| Price / earnings | 24.1x |
| Price / sales | 0.7x |

## What the business does

UnitedHealth Group operates two businesses: UnitedHealthcare, which arranges or provides health coverage, and Optum, which provides care and services to patients, health plans, employers, providers, and government agencies. Its services include medical care, pharmacy benefits and prescriptions, health care data and software, and administrative work such as processing payments and claims.

### How it makes money

- **UnitedHealthcare health coverage** (38.7% (year ended December 31, 2025)) — Employers and individuals pay premiums for coverage; government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, pay premiums for covered members. For some employer plans, the employer pays claims itself and pays UnitedHealthcare to administer the plan.
- **Optum Rx pharmacy services** (17.4% (year ended December 31, 2025)) — Health plans, employers, and public-sector customers pay for prescription benefit management and pharmacy services. Optum Rx also earns revenue from filling and delivering prescriptions through retail, home-delivery, and specialty pharmacies.
- **Optum Health care and health financial services** (11.4% (year ended December 31, 2025)) — Revenue comes from monthly payments for taking responsibility for members' care costs, fees for administering services, and contracted fees for medical care. Financial services generate fees and investment and interest income.
- **Optum Insight data, technology, and administrative services** (2.2% (year ended December 31, 2025)) — Health care organizations and government customers pay for software, data and analytics, consulting, and services such as claims and payment administration, often through contracts lasting several years.

### Products

- **UnitedHealthcare employer and individual health plans** — Health coverage for people buying their own plans and for employees and dependents covered through an employer. Some employers pay a set premium; others pay their own medical claims and hire UnitedHealthcare to administer the plan.
- **UnitedHealthcare Medicare coverage** — Health and prescription drug plans for people eligible for Medicare, including Medicare Advantage, stand-alone prescription drug plans, and plans that supplement traditional Medicare.
- **UnitedHealthcare Community & State plans** — Health coverage and benefit administration for people served by state Medicaid and other public health programs.
- **Optum Health care services** — Primary, specialty, surgical, behavioral, and home-based care, as well as care management and digital services such as telehealth.
- **Optum Rx pharmacy services** — Prescription benefit administration, pharmacy networks, home delivery, specialty pharmacies, and programs to help customers manage prescription use and costs.
- **Optum Insight and Optum Financial services** — Data, software, and administrative services for health care organizations, plus payment and financing services and accounts for consumers. The company moved Optum Financial into Optum Insight for its 2026 reporting structure.

### Customers

- Employers that buy group health coverage or hire UnitedHealthcare to administer plans they fund themselves.
- Individuals and families who buy health coverage directly or receive it through Medicare or Medicaid.
- Federal and state government agencies that pay for or contract for health coverage and program administration.
- Health insurers and other health plan sponsors that purchase pharmacy, data, technology, or administrative services.
- Hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and other care providers that buy software, data, payment, care management, or related services.
- Life sciences companies that buy health data, analytics, and related services.

### Competitors

- CVS Health (CVS) — Its Aetna health insurance business competes for health plan customers, and its Caremark business competes in prescription benefit services; both are divisions of the listed parent.
- The Cigna Group (CI) — Its health plans compete for employer and individual coverage, while its Evernorth businesses compete in pharmacy and health services; these are divisions of the listed parent.
- Elevance Health (ELV) — Its health plans compete for employer and government coverage, and its Carelon businesses compete in health care services; these are divisions of the listed parent.
- Humana (HUM) — Competes for Medicare health plan members and provides related care services.
- Centene (CNC) — Competes for state Medicaid and other government health plan contracts.

### What it depends on

- UnitedHealthcare depends on government program rules, funding, contract awards, and payment rates, particularly for Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
- The businesses depend on networks and working relationships with physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, and other care providers to arrange care and deliver services.
- Optum Rx depends on pharmacy networks, prescription drug suppliers, and rules governing prescription benefits and pharmacy benefit services.
- The company relies on information systems and sensitive health and financial data to administer coverage, payments, prescriptions, and care services.

### What could go wrong

- If medical costs, care use, or the health needs of members exceed what the company priced into its coverage and care contracts, costs can outpace payments.
- Changes to government health program funding, payment formulas, audits, or rules can affect UnitedHealthcare coverage and Optum services; the latest quarterly report also describes Medicare Advantage funding pressure and Medicaid rates lagging medical cost trends.
- A cyberattack, data breach, or failure of technology systems could disrupt operations or expose personal health and financial information.

## More on this company

- [Overview](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/unh)
- [Financial statements](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/unh/financials)
- [Competitors](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/unh/peers)
- [Earnings](https://inspectstocks.com/stocks/unh/earnings)

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Source: InspectStocks, built from the company’s own SEC filings. This describes a business — it is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.