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UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) shares traded lower for the fifth straight session on Friday, and the stock is poised to record its worst weekly loss since January 2023 as the healthcare giant grapples with an antitrust probe and a cyberattack on its health tech unit Change.
The Minnetonka, Minnesota-based managed care organization has lost more than $37B in market capitalization since last Friday as the ransomware attack carried out by hacker group ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware continued to disrupt the healthcare sector.
As Change functioned as a central hub for insurance claim processing across the industry, hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies have reported widespread outages since the cyberattack started on Feb. 21 early on the U.S. East Coast.
Days later, media reports indicated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had launched an antitrust probe into UNH, sending the stock to its lowest level since September.
The investigators have already interviewed various stakeholders in the healthcare sector, focusing on multiple issues, including relationships between UNH’s insurance unit and its Optum health services arm, under which Change operates, The Wall Street Journal reported.
However, Wall Street continues to back the company, with its 22 bullish ratings remaining unchanged in February compared to a month ago.