Morgan Stanley analyst Ricky Goldwasser noted that concerns over democratic presidential candidates' positions on "Medicare For All" have been weighing on the Managed Care Organization group since April when a bill was officially introduced in congress by Bernie Sanders. However, UnitedHealth (UNH) shares rose sharply, and the MCO group joined in yesterday, after the company reported an in-line Q3 Medical Loss Ratio, or MLR, and gave commentary on 2020 that eased market concerns around fundamentals, Goldwasser said. The analyst, who keeps an Overweight rating on UnitedHealth with a $294 price target, said the next catalyst for the MCO group will be Anthem's (ANTM) earnings report on October 23. Other publicly traded companies in the healthcare insurance space include CVS Health (CVS), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Health Net (HNT), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH) and WellCare (WCG).

Deutsche Bank analyst George Hill raised the firm's price target on UnitedHealth to $562 from $545 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company reported a Q1 earnings beat with many moving pieces caused by the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, which left earnings quality and guidance up to investor interpretation, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees the full impact of the hack, as well as conservatism around cost trend and utilization would impact UnitedHealth earnings by only 2% for the full year.

Notable gainers among liquid option names this morning include Genuine Parts (GPC) $159.09 +15.03, Globe Life (GL) $66.97 +3.74, Anthem (ELV) $532.10 +23.13, United Continental (UAL) $50.59 +1.84, and UnitedHealth (UNH) $494.80 +15.81.

Unusual total active option classes on open include: Wrap Technologies (WRAP), AstraZeneca (AZN), JetBlue (JBLU), United Continental (UAL), Taiwan Semi (TSM), Nokia (NOK), EBay (EBAY), Maplebear Inc (CART), Airbnb (ABNB), and UnitedHealth (UNH).

RBC Capital analyst Ben Hendrix lowered the firm's price target on UnitedHealth to $555 from $596 but keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The company reported a "better than feared" Q1, but the debate over utilization trends is expected to persist through the first half as excess reserves skew the medical care ratio picture, the analyst tells investors in a research note. RBC also notes that its added caution reflects UnitedHealth's "reduced claims visibility".