Here’s Why UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) Slid in Q4

Aristotle Atlantic Partners, LLC, an investment advisor, released its “Focus Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equity market finished the year strongly, with the S&P 500 Index rising 2.41% in Q4. The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, on the other hand, fell 3.06% during the quarter. Aristotle Atlantic’s Focus Growth strategy returned 5.05% gross of fees (5.03% net of fees) in the quarter underperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index’s 7.07% total return. A combination of allocation effects and security selection drove the underperformance of the portfolio in the quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

Aristotle Atlantic Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is a diversified healthcare company that operates through UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx segments. The one-month return of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was 6.60%, and its shares gained 7.35% of their value over the last 52 weeks.  On February 3, 2024, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock closed at $548.18 per share with a market capitalization of $504.481 billion.

Aristotle Atlantic Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) detracted from performance in the fourth quarter following the tragic shooting of its insurance division CEO and increased focus on health insurance industry practices. A bipartisan bill was introduced that could force companies that own pharmacy benefit managers to divest their pharmacy operations, which would impact United’s Optum unit.”

Is UnitedHealth Group (UNH) the Best Stock for Beginners with Little Money According to Hedge Funds?

A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is in 18th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 112 hedge fund portfolios held UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) at the end of the third quarter which was 114 in the previous quarter. In 2024, the company announced revenues exceeding $400 billion, and adjusted earnings per share reached $27.66, which fell within the outlook ranges it established over a year ago. While we acknowledge the potential of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and shared the list of most promising stocks that pay dividends. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.

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