Major health insurance stocks rose across the board Monday, the first day of trading since reports revealed Walmart has discussed an acquisition of Humana.
Humana shares jumped 6 percent. Shares of Anthem, UnitedHealth and Medicaid-provider Centene all traded roughly 2 percent higher before the bell, while shares of Walmart fell 1.1 percent.
Though discussions remain in early stages, sources confirmed to CNBC that Walmart is interested in strengthening its existing relationship with Humana amid a rush of deal speculation in the industry.
People familiar with the matter cautioned that details of the deal remained vague and that it’s possible one may never materialize.
Still, any such move by Walmart heightens attention on the remaining health insurance companies as potential partners for larger retailers or other large companies in their efforts to expand into other sectors.
CVS Health announced a $69 billion deal to buy insurer Aetna in December. That deal would combine CVS pharmacies, pharmacy benefit manager platform and Aetna’s insurance business.
Online retail behemoth Amazon, J.P. Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway have also teamed up to tackle rising employee health care costs. CNBC has also reported that Amazon has participated in exploratory talks with generic drug makers.
— Lauren Hirsch contributed to this report.
