UnitedHealth Group management check
UNH · Health Care · Managed Health Care · CEO Mr. Hemsley
Filings as of
2 good · 1 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $102, against $148 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Flag
Does pay follow performance?
Pay moved against returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of -0.75 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- n/a
What does the CEO cost owners?
Not enough dataNo pay or net income figure for the latest year.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingLight activity: no buys, $661k sold in six months.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -1.4% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.2% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Mr. Hemsley, Mr. Witty. 13 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Health Care.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 11 | 26 | |
| Pay for performance | 13 | 85 | |
| CEO cost | — | — | 44 |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 46 |
| Dilution | 68 | 68 | |
| Stable leadership | 20 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Managed Health Care, by management score. UnitedHealth Group is 58th of 60 in its sector.
- 76ELVElevance Health78
- 357HUMHumana57
- 446CNCCentene Corporation47
- 447BIIBBiogen47
- 455MDTMedtronic44
- 460UNHUnitedHealth Group42
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 21, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Hemsley, Mr. Witty | $60.9m | $56.5m | $19.0m | $102 | $148 | — |
| 2024 | — | $26.3m | $24.2m | $10.5m | $153 | $129 | — |
| 2023 | — | $23.5m | $20.2m | $12.2m | $157 | $126 | — |
| 2022 | — | $20.9m | $31.3m | $13.2m | $155 | $124 | — |
| 2021 | — | $18.4m | $55.5m | $11.3m | $145 | $126 | — |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EPS. Its other key measures: Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS), Cash Flow from Operations, Employee Experience Index (EXI), Operating Income, Net Promoter System (NPS), Return on Equity, Revenue.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Light activity: no buys, $661k sold in six months.
- SoldPatrick Hugh ConwayChief Executive Officer, Optum$661kAug 21, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Mar 2, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 25, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 21, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 31, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 21, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 14, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 29, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 15, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 17, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Mar 28, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 7, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jun 5, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $68.0bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 79% of net income, and $4.8bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $287.6bn | $324.2bn | $371.6bn | $400.3bn | $447.6bn |
| Net income | $17.3bn | $20.1bn | $22.4bn | $14.4bn | $12.1bn |
| Stock-based pay | $800.0m | $925.0m | $1.1bn | $1.0bn | $971.0m |
| Buybacks | $5.0bn | $7.0bn | $8.0bn | $9.0bn | $5.5bn |
| Dividends | $5.3bn | $6.0bn | $6.8bn | $7.5bn | $7.9bn |
| Diluted shares | 956m | 950m | 938m | 929m | 911m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.