Cannell & Co. Sells 98,031 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Cannell & Co. cut its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 95.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 98,031 shares during the period. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Humana were worth $2,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Humana by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 402,559 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Humana by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 681,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,743,000 after purchasing an additional 192,546 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Humana by 814.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 181,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $88,448,000 after purchasing an additional 161,909 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Humana by 2,659.2% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 152,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,369,000 after purchasing an additional 147,320 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Humana by 32,648.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 134,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $61,619,000 after purchasing an additional 134,185 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HUM shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $342.00 target price (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Humana from $391.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Argus cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $424.50.

Humana Trading Up 4.0 %

HUM opened at $314.21 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $390.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Humana Inc. has a one year low of $298.61 and a one year high of $541.21.

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

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

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.