UnitedHealth Financial News

By Leroy Leo and Khushi Mandowara

The cancer drug Gleevec went generic in 2016 and can be bought today for as little as $55 a month. But many patients’ insurance plans are paying more than 100 times that. CVS Health and Cigna can charge $6,600 a month or more for Gleevec prescriptions, a Wall Street Journal analysis of pricing data found.

Shareholders in U.S. firms saw dividends grow by 4.6% on an underlying basis in the second quarter of 2023 and by 2.9% on a headline basis including special dividends, exchange rate effects and other technical factors.

The figures by fund manager Janus Henderson estimated that 88% of companies globally had either increased their dividends or held them steady in Q2, resulting in $568.1 billion worth of worldwide payouts since the start of the year. The fastest growth came in Europe, where a number of countries such Italy and Spain have introduced or are looking at windfall taxes on bumper profits made by banks and energy firms on the back of rising interest rates and energy prices. Dividends were up nearly 10% to $184.5 billion. That did not including Britain, where the quarterly total dropped to $30.7 billion from last year's $34.9 billion, when oil and gas firms saw a leap in payments after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent commodity prices surging. This time around, the surge in global interest rates meant banks contributed half the world's dividend growth and drove a quarter of Europe's increase.

Investing.com -- Health insurance group Humana (NYSE:HUM) reported a bump in second-quarter medical costs that was lower than anticipated despite strong demand for surgeries following the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting profit above estimates.

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Stocks that are trading heavily or have substantial price changes on Friday: UnitedHealth Group, Elanco rise; Leslie’s, State Street fall

Investing.com — Stocks rallied on Thursday after a second inflation gauge came up cooler than expected, stoking hopes that the Federal Reserve could be near the end of its interest rate increases.

The insurance industry is predominantly associated with value companies with the potential for stable long-term returns and increased resistance to market turbulence. As we seek defensive positions for our investment portfolios, directing attention toward the insurance sector becomes worthwhile.

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

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