{"id":123139,"date":"2025-09-08T15:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/123139\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T15:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:48:11","slug":"unh-vs-cvs-which-healthcare-stock-has-more-upside-according-to-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/123139\/","title":{"rendered":"UNH vs. CVS: Which Healthcare Stock Has More Upside, According to Wall Street?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The healthcare sector is showing signs of recovery, and large insurers are drawing renewed attention from Wall Street. UnitedHealth Group (UNH)<\/a>, the nation\u2019s largest health insurer, and CVS Health (CVS)<\/a>, a major player with both insurance and pharmacy benefits operations, have both emerged as key names to watch. Using TipRanks\u2019 Stock Comparison Tool<\/a>, we compare the two to see which stock analysts believe offers more upside.<\/p>\n

Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! <\/a> Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.<\/p>\n

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UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock<\/p>\n

UnitedHealth has lost about 37% so far in 2025 due to weak Q2 financials<\/a>,\u00a0regulatory scrutiny over Medicare billing practices<\/a>, and\u00a0leadership changes<\/a>\u00a0that shook investor confidence.\u00a0However, the stock has started to recover recently, gaining 4% over the past three months. The rebound comes as conditions across managed care and healthcare facilities improve, with valuations stabilizing after months of pressure. Backed by a steady revenue base, continued investment, and expectations for earnings growth in 2026, UnitedHealth could appeal to investors willing to look past near-term challenges.<\/p>\n

Several analysts remain upbeat on the stock. For instance, Bernstein analyst Lance Wilkes<\/a>\u00a0raised his price target on UNH to $379 from $337, while keeping an Outperform rating. He sees UNH as a strong long-term investment with the ability to deliver steady earnings growth. Likewise, Barclays analyst Andrew Mok<\/a>\u00a0also lifted his price target to $352 from $337, maintaining an Overweight rating. Mok pointed to several near-term catalysts<\/a> that could drive the share price higher.<\/p>\n

Is UNH a Good Buy Right Now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turning to Wall Street,\u00a0UNH stock<\/a>\u00a0has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on\u00a017 Buys, two Holds, and one Sell assigned in the last three months. At $317.80, the\u00a0average UnitedHealth stock price target<\/a>\u00a0implies a 0.76% upside potential.<\/p>\n

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See more UNH analyst ratings<\/a><\/p>\n

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) Stock\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

CVS Health has surged about 70% in 2025, helped by strong earnings that beat forecasts<\/a>, higher full-year profit guidance, and momentum across its insurance, pharmacy, and healthcare benefits units. The company also lifted investor confidence by cutting costs and expanding access to the weight-loss drug Wegovy<\/a> through its partnership with Novo Nordisk (NVO)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo<\/a> recently upgraded CVS to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target to $79 from $67. He said cost controls and stronger execution in the healthcare benefits business are starting to show results, and this progress is not yet priced into the stock. Caliendo highlighted that CVS has delivered two straight quarters of results above expectations, helped by clearer forecasting of Medicare Advantage costs and early signs of improvement in its group insurance business.<\/p>\n

As a result, the firm now expects CVS earnings to grow at about 14% per year through 2028, ahead of both its prior forecast and the Street\u2019s 12% estimate. Analysts also noted that CVS has adjusted its Medicare Advantage plans by lowering benefits and revising cost assumptions, which has helped stabilize claims and strengthen reserves.<\/p>\n

Is CVS a Good Buy Right Now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turning to Wall Street,\u00a0CVS stock<\/a>\u00a0has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on\u00a014 Buys and one Hold assigned in the last three months. At $84.40, the\u00a0average CVS Health stock price target<\/a>\u00a0implies a 14.39% upside potential.<\/p>\n

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See more CVS analyst ratings<\/a><\/p>\n

Conclusion\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wall Street remains bullish on both UnitedHealth and CVS, but analysts see more upside in CVS. While UNH is a much larger player with a strong balance sheet, its near-term upside is limited at less than 1%. In contrast, CVS offers a higher potential return of about 14%, supported by recent upgrades, stronger execution in its healthcare benefits business, and rising investor confidence. For investors focused on near-term gains, CVS stands out as the more attractive pick, though UNH continues to offer long-term stability.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer & Disclosure<\/a>Report an Issue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The healthcare sector is showing signs of recovery, and large insurers are drawing renewed attention from Wall Street.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-123139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}