Here's What Happened to UnitedHealth Group (UNH)

Ruane, Cunniff LP, an investment adviser managing Sequoia Strategy, released its Q4 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Sequoia Strategy returned 9% in Q4 compared to 2.7% for the S&P 500 Index. The Strategy delivered a return of 21.9% in 2025 versus 17.9% for the Index. In a year characterized by both strength and volatility, the Strategy outperformed the Index. The firm strives to invest in high-quality, fundamentally and financially strong businesses at reasonable prices. The Strategy is concentrated while it covers a wide range of sectors, business styles, and regions. Please review the Strategy’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sequoia Strategy highlighted stocks like UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH). UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), an American health benefits company, detracted from the Strategy's performance in the quarter. On February 9, 2026, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock closed at $275.70 per share. One-month return of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was -17.44%, and its shares are down 48.36% over the past twelve months. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has a market capitalization of $249.74 billion.

Sequoia Strategy stated the following regarding UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:

"Our investments in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) (“United”) and Elevance Health, Inc. (“Elevance”), the two largest managed care companies in the country, are instructive in this regard. We initiated both positions opportunistically. In the case of United, we capitalized on a 2019 share price swoon precipitated by “Medicare for All” fears that flared up in the runup to the 2020 presidential election. We bought our first shares of Elevance two years later when Covid induced swings in healthcare utilization pressured its earnings.

United and Elevance, as businesses, performed well out of the gates, bolstered by a Covid-induced swelling of government-funded healthcare rolls combined with surprisingly subdued utilization. United and Elevance, as stocks, performed even better, as investors fled to apparent safe havens like managed care amidst a stock market correction brought on by rising rates, inflation fears, and general economic concerns. We recognized the situation for what it was. The pleasing results posted by United and Elevance during Covid had not changed our assessment of fundamental value. Although the valuations at the time did not strike us as obviously unreasonable, we deemed them to be on the high side of fair. Accordingly, we sold almost half of our combined shareholdings in United and Elevance over the course of 2022..." (Click here to read the full text)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is in the 18th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 140 hedge fund portfolios held UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) at the end of the third quarter, which was 159 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and shared a list of stocks with the lowest forward PE ratio. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.