Buffett bought 5M shares of UNH

While this isn't the "mystery position" we talked about earlier (more posts on that under BRK), we did learn that Buffett has a $1.6B position in UNH.

As a Buffett expert, I think this position was most likely intitiated by his porftolio managers (Combs or Weschler), given the small size of the position.

UnitedHealth, once a healthcare stalwart, has struggled in the midst of a litany of challenges, including a pullback in Medicare funding, the shooting death of a top executive, and controversies over its business practices. In May, Chairman Stephen Hemsley returned to his former role as CEO to help engineer a turnaround.

Berkshire likely paid about $300 a share or more for the UnitedHealth stake in the second quarter, given where the stock traded in the period. Berkshire is probably in the red on that investment.

The company added to its existing investments in Pool, Constellation Brands, and Chevron in the second quarter, while eliminating a position in T-Mobile US, selling 3.8 million shares. It reduced its investment in Charter Communications by almost 50% to about one million shares. It also pared its holding in Liberty Formula One during the period.

Time to sharpen the pencil on UNH. Given their lawsuits around Medicaid fraud, I stayed away from the business. But, they pay a 3%+ dividend and are at a P/E ratio of <15 with revenue growth of 10% in the last year.