UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Hits 52-Week High After Strong Q1 – Time to Buy?

TLDR

• UNH hit a 52-week high of $404.14 on Wednesday, up ~30% over the past month
• Q1 revenue came in at $111.7 billion, up 2% year over year, with EPS beating expectations at $7.23 adjusted
• UnitedHealthcare’s operating margins improved from 6.2% to 6.6% in Q1
• The Medical Care Ratio dropped to 83.9% in Q1, down from 88.9% the prior quarter
• UnitedHealth cut Medicare Advantage membership by 1.3 million in 2026 to protect margins

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) hit a 52-week high of $404.14 on Wednesday morning, capping a strong run that has seen the stock climb roughly 30% over the past month.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UNH

Year to date, UNH is up around 21%. Over the past 12 months, it has gained approximately 29%.

The move higher follows a rough start to the year. From January through late March, the stock dropped from $336 to $259 — a fall of around 23%.

The recovery began after UnitedHealth reported Q1 results in late April, which came in ahead of expectations and included a guidance raise.

Q1 revenue hit $111.7 billion, a 2% increase year over year. Adjusted EPS came in at $7.23, above what analysts had penciled in. Reported EPS was $6.90.

UnitedHealthcare’s operating margins ticked up from 6.2% to 6.6%, a modest but meaningful improvement for a company working through a period of transition.

Medicare Advantage Remains a Pressure Point

Medicare Advantage has been one of the more visible challenges for UNH. Government payment rates have not kept up with rising program costs, squeezing margins over recent years.

To get ahead of that, UnitedHealth trimmed its Medicare Advantage membership by 1.3 million people in 2026. It was a difficult move, but one management framed as necessary for long-term sustainability.

The impact is showing up in the numbers. UnitedHealth’s Medical Care Ratio — the percentage of collected premiums paid out in claims — fell to 83.9% in Q1, down from 88.9% in Q4 2025.

That is a large drop in a single quarter and suggests the membership cuts are already having an effect on cost structure.

Earlier in the Year, the Picture Looked Different

The beginning of 2025 was rocky. UnitedHealth saw a selloff in early January after Q4 2024 earnings disappointed and a CMS proposal for Medicare Advantage rate increases came in below expectations.

The company has also dealt with leadership changes and an ongoing antitrust investigation. Those issues haven’t gone away, but for now, investors appear to be looking past them.

At the current price near $400, UNH trades with a dividend yield of around 2.3%, with a market cap of approximately $360 billion.

The stock’s 52-week range runs from $234.60 to $404.15 — Wednesday’s high matched the top of that range.

Volume on Wednesday came in around 4.8 million, below the average of 8.5 million, suggesting the move was not driven by unusually heavy trading.

UNH last traded at $400.38 as of the latest available price on Wednesday.

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