Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock Price Up 1.9%

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) shares were up 1.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $320.97 and last traded at $320.27. Approximately 363,475 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,977,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HUM shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price objective (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Humana in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $424.50.

Humana Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $38.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $325.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $390.72.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $1.11. The business had revenue of $29.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $9.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.18 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HUM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $676,800,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $489,300,000. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 550.3% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 875,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $400,808,000 after purchasing an additional 740,858 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 255.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 620,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,241,000 after purchasing an additional 446,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Humana by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 402,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.