Today, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) reported its earnings results for the second quarter of fiscal 2018. The company reported sales of $56.1 billion, up ~12% on a (year-over-year) basis.
Today, CVS Health, the leading pharmacy benefit managers, is up ~5% after announcing the launch of its drug delivery service from all of its US locations.
Around 70% of the US population lives within three miles of a CVS store, while more than 75% of the population lives within five miles of a Walgreens store.
Of the 22 analysts tracking UNH stock on April 19, 50% rated it as a “strong buy,” and the remaining 50% of these analysts rated the company as a “buy.”
Cigna (CI) has projected its expected annual revenue growth rate in the range of 6%–to 8% from 2017 to 2021, assuming completion of the Express Scripts acquisition.
Headquartered in Minnesota, Fortune 500 company UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is the world’s largest healthcare company based on revenue, which totaled ~$184 billion for UNH in fiscal 2016.
CVS Health (CVS), America’s largest pharmacy chain, announced a $69 billion deal to purchase Aetna (AET), the country’s third-largest insurance company, on December 3, 2017.
With trailing 12-month sales of $181 billion, CVS Health is a pharmacy colossus. However, its focus seems to be on becoming more than just a retail pharmacy chain.
On April 28, 2017, WellCare Health Plans (WCG) completed the acquisition of Universal American Corp. This deal added 119,000 Medicare Advantage members from several major markets
Expense guidance for 2017 For full-year 2017, Anthem (ANTM) has projected the medical cost trend for its local group business to fall in the range of 6.5%–7.0%. To learn more about medical cost trends, please see Medical cost trend means rising premiums for health insurance. If Anthem’s actual medical cost trend for full-year 2017 turns out […]
In its bid to control healthcare costs, UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) OptumRx segment has been actively deploying data analytics across its Optum platform.
UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) Optum One is being used by about 700 hospitals and 7,000 medical clinics, which together cover about 140,000 healthcare providers.
Optum360, UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) hospital revenue cycle management solution, is expected to reach $60.0 billion in billings for clients and partner organizations.
The consensus 12-month target price for UnitedHealth Group’s stock is ~$152.60, which represents a rise of 8.8% from the stock’s closing price of $140.30 on July 11, 2016.
In its 1Q16 conference call, Anthem updated its 2016 revenue guidance to $81 billion–$82 billion—higher than the previous projection by about $1 billion.
In 1Q16, UnitedHealth Group witnessed overall medical cost trends in the range of 5.5%–6.5%. This is in line with the 2016 guidance given in December 2015.
UnitedHealth Group’s healthcare delivery business, OptumHealth, managed to earn $4 billion revenues in 1Q16, which represents a YoY growth of about 22%.
In 4Q15, Anthem’s medical care ratio, a ratio of medical costs against premium revenues, rose by 2.5% YoY. Its medical care ratio for fiscal 2015 was 83.3%.
Anthem’s diluted earnings per share in 4Q15 fell short of estimates by $0.04. The results represent the company’s lowest quarterly adjusted EPS in 2015.
Aetna’s Humana acquisition is mainly aimed at increasing the combined companies’ exposure to the high-growth Medicare business. The deal is currently being scrutinized by antitrust regulators.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) released its 4Q15 and full year 2015 earnings on January 19, 2015. The company registered diluted EPS attributable to common shareholders of $1.26 in 4Q15 and $6 for 2015.
On December 1, the healthcare-services subgroup outperformed all other subgroups in XLV with a return of 3.3%. The biotechnology subgroup returned 0.8%.
In 3Q15, UnitedHealth Group’s consolidated medical care ratio, which is the ratio of medical costs to the premium revenue, fell by 0.9% on a year-over-year (or YoY) basis.
To strengthen their presence in international markets, health insurance companies have been involved in mergers and acquisitions with local insurance companies in these markets.
In 3Q15, UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) UnitedHealthcare segment added 1.7 million people year-over-year across the commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits markets in the US.
In 3Q15, despite a rise of total revenues by 27% year-over-year, which includes 10% organic growth, UnitedHealth Group reported a decline of about 1% in net profit margins.
Aetna’s EBITDA margins rose from 10.6% in 1Q14 to 11.3% in 1Q15. Enrollment growth and an effective cost optimization strategy led to the high margins.
The growth of the ASEAN member nations has been extraordinary, to say the least. The GDP for the region expanded at a whopping 313% between 2001 and 2013.
With a market cap of $27 billion, Humana is one of the leading companies in the healthcare service subgroup. HUM stock rose 4.34% for the period August 25–31, 2015.
In the case of the Cigna–Anthem merger, Anthem (ANTM) is buying Cigna (CI) for a headline amount of $188 a share, comprised of 0.5152 shares of Anthem and $103.40 in cash.
Centene projects that Health Net’s acquisition will help Centene realize pre-tax synergies worth $150 million by the end of the second year after the closure of the deal.
Centene aims to position itself as a leader in the fast-growing Medicaid market. Health Net’s acquisition will add ~1.7 million Medicaid members to the company’s portfolio.
On July 2, Centene announced the acquisition of Health Net for a combination of cash and shares amounting to $6.8 billion. This includes the assumption of Health Net’s $500 million debt.
The merger of Anthem and Cigna is all about extracting synergies and driving down costs. As the Affordable Care Act puts pressure on health insurers, they need to cut costs to maintain margins.
Cigna’s revenue is estimated to be $9.3 billion, and its EBITDA margin is expected to be ~9.0%. Its net income is expected to be around $480.6 million.
The rise in Aetna’s EPS is mainly attributed to the increase in the company’s government-sponsored MA (Medicare Advantage) and Medicaid enrollments in 1Q15.
UnitedHealthcare grew its Medicare business by 3,80,000 new enrollees, with enrollments distributed almost evenly between MA (Medicare Advantage) and supplemental Medicare plans.
Centene’s business strategy focuses on improving the quality of its services. It provides services to the uninsured and underinsured population in 22 states in the US.
Customer segments The players in the private health insurance industry (IYH) aim for a favorable enrollment mix to reduce taxes and other liabilities while at the same time generating sustainable profits. Accordingly, managed care organizations such as Humana (HUM), Aetna (AET), Anthem, Cigna (CI), and WellCare Health Plans (WCG) are increasingly focusing on government-sponsored and international enrollments to balance […]
