Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 504.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,090 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Humana were worth $2,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Humana by 4.0% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Humana by 0.6% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Humana by 0.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 19.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in Humana by 25.0% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 29,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,971,000 after buying an additional 5,964 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, January 19th. Argus cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target (down from $530.00) on shares of Humana in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Humana in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.00.

Insider Transactions at Humana

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of Humana stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE HUM traded down $2.78 on Thursday, reaching $346.72. 1,542,420 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,000,968. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $362.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $442.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $41.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45. Humana Inc. has a 12 month low of $334.54 and a 12 month high of $541.21.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.87). The firm had revenue of $26.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.86%.

About Humana

Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides medical and specialty insurance products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits.