UnitedHealth Group (UNH 1.57%) has been a staple in the healthcare world for decades and is one of the largest companies in the world, with a market cap of around $280 billion as of Aug. 18. Unfortunately, the company was much more valuable before a recent string of events sent the stock plummeting.
Had you invested $1,000 into UnitedHealth Group stock three years ago (using Aug. 18, 2022, as the starting point), your investment would only be worth just over $572 today, or $585 when including dividends.
UnitedHealth Group has been in the news for all the wrong reasons
UnitedHealth Group's stock is down around 42% over the past three years, but much of that fall has come this year, with the stock down over 38% year to date. There hasn't been a single event that caused this drop, but rather a few problems that have seemed to compound.
To begin, the company's then-CEO, Brian Thompson, was killed in December 2024, and the alleged shooter's manifesto brought scrutiny to some of the company's business practices. Then, in May of this year, then-CEO Andrew Witty resigned, citing personal reasons. This latter departure came as UnitedHealth Group suspended its forecast for the year, and the stock dropped 18% in a single day, hitting a four-year low.
Image source: Getty Images.
The recent slump is far from ideal for investors who've held the stock over that span. But there might be light at the end of the tunnel. In the most recent 13F filing from Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire disclosed that it added over 5 million shares of UnitedHealth Group. The news led to UnitedHealth Group's stock price having its best single-day gain since March 2020, and it rose over 23% from Aug. 12 to Aug. 18.
Whether that leads to a longer-term turnaround remains to be seen. But it has undoubtedly brought more optimism into the picture for UnitedHealth.
