Time To Sell?

There is always debate about captive PBMs (i.e., those owned by a managed care company).  In theory, I have always argued that they should have a leg up.  But, since pharmacy represents only 10% of total healthcare spend, the majority of the strategic focus is typically on the health insurance side of the business.  [BTW – The 3 largest captive PBMs are Wellpoint, Aetna, and Cigna.]

So, if you look at the stock charts below, you can see that while the PBMs (Express Scripts, Medco, and CVS Caremark) have all held up pretty well the managed care stocks (Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare, Humana, and Wellpoint) have not held up as well.

If I owned a captive PBM, would this be the time for me to consider selling?  I have heard this debate a lot more recently than in recent years.

PBM 5-Year Stock Chart

Managed Care 5-Year Stock Chart

[As I have disclosed before, I do not hold any individual stocks.]