How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in UnitedHealth Group (UNH) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to UNH for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

UnitedHealth Group's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at UnitedHealth Group's main business drivers.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. provides a wide range of health care products and services, such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs), point of service plans (POS), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and managed fee-for-service programs.

UnitedHealth has the largest and most diverse membership base within the managed-care organization market, which gives it significant competitive advantages. It has built its prescription drug business through OptumRx division, with the acquisition of Catamaran. The company has acquired a number of competing healthcare providers. These acquisitions have transformed it from a pure health insurer to a comprehensive healthcare provider.

UnitedHealth consists of two business platforms - UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Its strategy is to meld the provision of medical care from its Optum unit with UnitedHealthcare brand insurance products, which help in cross-selling products and services. The company is consistently working toward expanding both these units to reach more clients, in turn boosting its growth possibilities. Within these platforms are included the four reportable segments of UNH – UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx.

UnitedHealthcare (contributed 54% of revenues excluding corporate eliminations in 2024) is divided into UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual; UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement; UnitedHealthcare Community & State and UnitedHealthcare Global. This segment is responsible for providing health care benefits globally. It serves individuals as well as employers. Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries consist a large chunk of its client list. UNH sold its Brazil business on Feb. 6, 2024.

Optum (46%) is a technology-enabled health services business serving the broad health care marketplace, including those who need care: the consumers who need the right support, information, resources and products; those who provide care: pharmacies, hospitals, physicians, practices and other health care facilities. The platform is divided into three segments - OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx.

Bottom Line

Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in UnitedHealth Group a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in April 2015 would be worth $4,473.84, or a 347.38% gain, as of April 7, 2025, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 145.49% and gold's return of 140.91% over the same time frame.

Analysts are forecasting more upside for UNH too.

UnitedHealth's top line remains poised for growth on the back of a strong market position, new deals, renewed agreements and expansion of service offerings. The company’s solid health services segment provides diversification benefits. The Government business remains well-poised for growth in the future. Adjusted net earnings per share are anticipated to be in the $29.50-$30 band in 2025. A sturdy balance sheet enables investments and prudent deployment of capital via buybacks and dividend payments. UNH's shares have outperformed the industry in the past year. However, declining membership in its global business continues to be a concern. High operating costs due to rising medical expenses are hurting margins. We expect medical costs to jump over 14% YoY in 2025. A debt-laden balance sheet induces an increase in interest expenses.

The stock has jumped 6.40% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 1 higher, for fiscal 2025; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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