Conservative Stock Portfolio: 5 Best Stocks To Buy

2. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

In late November, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) issued guidance numbers for the fiscal year 2021-2022 ahead of an investor event, outlining that it expected revenue to reach up to $320 billion against consensus estimates of $310 billion. The projected cash flows from operations stood at around $24 billion. In early December, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declared a quarterly dividend of $1.45 per share, in line with previous. 

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock has been among the top hedge fund picks for many years now. Data compiled by Insider Monkey shows that 95 hedge funds were long UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock with stakes worth $11.7 billion at the end of September. 

In its Q2 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“A good way to conceptualize how we think about portfolio construction is to picture a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the durable compounding growth companies that form the strong foundation, resilience and consistency for the Strategy. We think these companies should comprise just under half of portfolio assets and feature annual revenue growth rates ranging from two times GDP up to 20% as well as healthy free cash flow generation.

UnitedHealth Group, a name we have owned in the Strategy since 1992, is a good example of a long-term compounder, having grown its revenue base from approximately $600 million to north of $260 billion over that time frame. It remains constantly focused on investing in new growth drivers such as telemedicine and health care analytics. Broadcom and Comcast have delivered similar long-term appreciation through a combination of organic growth, capital deployment into new and adjacent opportunities through merger and acquisition activity as well as returning capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.”