UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH)

(A Top Pick Jun 13/17, Up 23%) They have a couple of headwinds right now. There is a health insurer thing rolling off that is a one year thing. He continues to like them.

(A Top Pick June 13/17. Up 18%.) This has been an absolute hero. It has several tailwinds. It is the dominant Medicare/Medicaid provider. Management is intent on returning 50% of free cash flow. It has all the right factors. He still likes this.

A fine company, but his choice has been Anthem (ANTM-N). Has great admiration for this company. They are very good managers. They have the attributes that are really important from a risk/rewards standpoint in the healthcare insurance space, and that is size and scale. They have enough risk aversion that you should be safe holding this.

The dominant player in health insurance in the US. They have a pharmacy benefit manager. They are squeezing down costs and gaining business. (Analysts’ target: $214.00).

(A Top Pick May 20/16. Up 46.72%.) He’s been really happy with this. This is definitely the leader in their group. Management is intent on returning capital, 50% of earnings and cash flow each year.

(A Top Pick May 20/16. Up 40%.) The whole healthcare space is at a neutral. This is the biggest Medicare/Medicaid provider in the US. They are great operators and have got scale. Great management team.

He likes its scale. It is the leader in every single group that it does business in. It has the widest geographic dispersion for its businesses. It is driving costs down for the government spend, which they badly need. Dividend yield of 1.6%. (Analysts’ price target is $194.)

The largest health insurer in the US. There are strong structural tailwinds within the managed care subsector and some potential tax windfalls. They’ve been using their health scripts to win business and reduce costs. Dividend yield of 1.4%. (Analysts’ price target is $191.)

(Top Pick Mar 2/17, Up 39%) There is a move toward trying to reduce the per capita health care spending. They are compressing their business and picking up a lot of CVS-N customers. It is not terribly affected either way by a policy shift. They return 50% of free cash flow to shareholders. They have government contracts behind them. It came off his list, but there is nothing wrong with them.

He is not adding to his holdings right now. The industry leader in terms of health insurance. The time when he really backed up the truck was in the early part of Mr. Obama’s administration when stocks were just begging to be picked up off the sidewalks. Since then, this company has done extremely well. For your healthcare exposure, he would be looking at the more traditional companies such as Abbott Labs, Pfizer’s, Merck’s, GlaxoSmithKline’s.

(A Top Pick June 22/16. Up 17.44%.) They are the dominant medical insurer. The transition from straight Medicare to Medicare Advantage will be a positive tailwind for them. There are some tax benefits coming down the pipeline that will be positive for them. The only US medical insurer that is integrated with its pharmacy benefit manager, which is proving to be positive.

A very high quality health care provider in the US. If you want exposure there, it is one of the best companies to hold. She likes healthcare as a secular theme due to the aging demographics. There is not one specific reason why is has gone up recently. Keep holding it.

Technically this has been doing okay, but it is currently testing its support level, and trading in a range right now. Historically, healthcare stocks at this time of year have underperformed the market. It is best not to be in the stock right now.

A great business, and a leader in Pharma/benefits management space. Their franchise of Optum has been eating up market share in that fragmented space. Also, have contracts with the US military. Thinks it could have a little bit of volatility if there is a Clinton president, which could give you a buying opportunity.

It is coming in under EBV+5, or $116.81, -14% to model price. We are getting 9% compound health care cost increases in the US annually. Wait for $110, EBV+4, to buy the stock again.