Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

MARKET AND HOLDERS

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol UNH. On January 31, 2022, there were 10,644 registered holders of record of our common stock.

DIVIDEND POLICY

In June 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the Company’s quarterly cash dividend to shareholders to an annual rate of $5.80 compared to $5.00 per share, which the Company had paid since June 2020. Declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends is at the discretion of the Board and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change.

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

In November 1997, our Board of Directors adopted a share repurchase program, which the Board evaluates periodically. There is no established expiration date for the program. During the fourth quarter of 2021, we repurchased 2.3 million shares at an average price of $447.99 per share. As of December 31, 2021, we had Board authorization to purchase up to 45 million shares of our common stock.

PERFORMANCE GRAPH

The following performance graph compares the cumulative five-year total return to shareholders on our common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the S&P Health Care Index, the Dow Jones US Industrial Average Index and the S&P 500 index for the five-year period ended December 31, 2021. The comparisons assume the investment of $100 on December 31, 2016 in our common stock and in each index, and dividends were reinvested when paid.

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.