United Healthcare's (UNH) formulary is no longer covering Valeant Pharmaceuticals' (VRX) number three branded drug Solodyn and will also now exclude Retin-A brand, its number four branded drug, Wells Fargo analyst David Maris tells investors in a research note. The analyst estimates the two drugs represented approximately $214M of Valeant's sales in 2016. Maris also points out that Glumetza, Valeant's number eight branded drug, and Relistor were removed in July from CVS/Caremark's (CVS) formulary. These two drugs had approximately $119M in 2016 revenues. Maris notes his counterpart Peter Costa estimates that United Healthcare covers approximately 17% of the U.S. and CVS covers approximately 33%. Express Scripts (ESRX) is releasing its 2018 national formulary next week, Costa adds. Maris keeps an Underperform rating on shares of Valeant with a $9 price target. The stock in premarket trading is down 33c, or 2%, to $16.80.

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".