UNH wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED (Delaware) · Financials · $405.13 close on Nov 12, 2026
What the Nov 12, 2026 close says about UNH
At 31.7% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $40.35 (10.0%) in UNH by Dec 18, 2026, 36 days out.
Selling the $390 put (−0.34Δ) for $9.86 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $380.14, 6.2% below the $405.13 close.
The 64-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.1× the premium of the 36-day one for 1.8× the time — more premium per day on the 36-day contract ($0.274 vs $0.175).
At 0.30Δ on the Dec 18 expiry the put yields 2.53% on its strike and the call 1.60% on spot: puts pay 1.6× what calls do on UNH this session.
Moving down to the $370 put (−0.19Δ) buys 4.9% more room below spot and keeps 51% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 93,742 contracts; the largest single line is the $350 put expiring Jan 15 with 8,406 (9.0% of the window).
UNH goes ex-dividend on Dec 7, 2026 ($2.32 declared), inside the Dec 18 covered-call window. A short call that is in the money before an ex-date can be assigned early.
By options volume UNH ranks #131 of 679 names in our universe.
Near-the-money options volume (3.4k) is 331% above its 5-session average.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on UNH
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $390 | −0.34 | $9.86 Nov 12 | $986.00 | $39,000 | 2.53% | 25.6% | $380.14 | 1,848 | 34 |
| 0.20Δ | $370 | −0.19 | $5.01 Nov 12 | $501.00 | $37,000 | 1.35% | 13.7% | $364.99 | 2,151 | 49 |
Snapshot #9536 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $380 | −0.30 | $11.19 Nov 12 | $1,119.00 | $38,000 | 2.94% | 16.8% | $368.81 | 3,323 | 46 |
| 0.20Δ | $360 | −0.19 | $6.54 Nov 12 | $654.00 | $36,000 | 1.82% | 10.4% | $353.46 | 4,514 | 9 |
Snapshot #9536 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 64
Covered calls on UNH
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $430 | 0.28 | $6.50 Nov 12 | $650.00 | 1.60% | 16.3% | 7.74% | 78.5% | 2,637 | 998 |
| 0.20Δ | $440 | 0.21 | $4.27 Nov 12 | $427.00 | 1.05% | 10.7% | 9.66% | 98.0% | 1,940 | 183 |
Snapshot #9536 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 36
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $440 | 0.28 | $8.91 Nov 12 | $891.00 | 2.20% | 12.5% | 10.81% | 61.6% | 1,688 | 53 |
| 0.20Δ | $460 | 0.18 | $4.90 Nov 12 | $490.00 | 1.21% | 6.9% | 14.75% | 84.1% | 5,722 | 150 |
Snapshot #9536 · session 2026-11-12 · captured 22:21 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 64
UNH volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 31.7%session 2026-11-12
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable1
- Next earnings
- Unavailable2
- Next ex-dividend
- Ex-div Dec 7, 2026 · $2.32 declaredchecked Nov 9, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 93,742 contractssession 2026-11-12
- Largest open-interest line
- $350 put · Jan 15 · 8,406
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable3
- Options liquidity rank
- #131 of 679 optionable names by options volume
How these numbers are made
One end-of-day snapshot per session from a 15-minute-delayed feed. A premium is a contract’s last trade, used only if it printed that session, sits above intrinsic value and is in order with its neighbours; deltas are the feed’s own. Expiries are the first at least 30 and 60 days out, and nothing under 30 days is annualized. Not investment advice. Full methodology.
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (34 of 252 sessions so far); IV rank and percentile need a full year of it.
- Our data provider does not license announced earnings dates, and we do not publish estimates.
- Our data feed carries last trades, not live bid/ask quotes, so we cannot show a spread.