UnitedHealth selloff after DOJ fraud probe ‘perhaps overly harsh,’ says Leerink

Leerink reiterates an Outperform rating and $675 price target on shares of UnitedHealth (UNH). The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department has opened up a civil fraud probe into the company’s Medicare billing and coding practices, which is distinct from the ongoing antitrust investigation. Friday’s pre-market move implies that UnitedHealth could lose $30B of market cap this morning, which is “perhaps overly harsh,” and would imply the highest settlement and fine in the history of the Medicare program.