Berkshire shares tick up as Buffett takes big HP stake; UnitedHealth soars

U.S. insurance stocks were generally higher during a week highlighted by Warren Buffett's conglomerate announcing significant holdings in a major technology company.

The insurance sector outperformed the broader markets during the week ending April 8. The S&P 500 Insurance index climbed 0.63% to 606.07, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.27% to 4,488.28.

As it did two weeks ago when announcing its deal for Alleghany Corporation, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. again made headlines after announcing it owned almost 121 million shares of HP Inc., or about 11.4% of the company. The newly disclosed stake makes Berkshire the technology giant's biggest shareholder.

Based on HP's closing price at the time the stake was announced, Berkshire's holdings in HP were worth about $4.2 billion.

Berkshire's stock added 0.23% on the week.

In other deal news, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Change Healthcare Inc. were forced to extend their merger agreement to Dec. 31 after the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the nearly $8 billion deal. UnitedHealth expects the trial to begin Aug. 1 and last two weeks.

UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo in a research note said UnitedHealth must have a fair amount of confidence in the merits of the transaction to be willing to go toe to toe with the Justice Department in court.

UnitedHealth was one of the bigger winners this week, with its stock rising 6.51%.

Elsewhere in the healthcare sector, Guggenheim Securities LLC analyst Sandy Draper started coverage on HealthEquity Inc. with a buy rating and $89 price target. Draper said in a research note that the company has beaten the rest of the market in adding new net health savings accounts every year since 2011. He expects that to continue and sees long-term year-over-year HSA growth of 7% to 9%.

HealthEquity's shares were basically flat on the week.

In the property and casualty space, Reuters reported this week that American International Group Inc. considering cutting coverage for Russia and Ukraine to protect itself from the risk of heavy claims as sanctions ratchet up and the war between the countries continues. The insurer is looking at adding exclusion clauses to policies for businesses operating in the countries across a range of policies, according to the report.

AIG's stock closed the week down 1.02%.