Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Up 1.9%

Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) shot up 1.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $324.38 and last traded at $323.46. 1,956,514 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 2,015,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $317.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $465.42.

Humana Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $343.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $425.01. 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 stock has a market cap of $39.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.87). Humana had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Humana’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Humana’s payout ratio is 17.86%.

Insider Activity at Humana

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Humana by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 60 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Humana during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Company Profile

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.