Scopia Capital Management LP Sells 48,499 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Scopia Capital Management LP reduced its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 64.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 48,499 shares during the period. Humana comprises approximately 1.7% of Scopia Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Scopia Capital Management LP’s holdings in Humana were worth $8,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Humana by 6.5% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,705,000 after acquiring an additional 71,910 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Humana by 3.0% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Humana during the second quarter worth $3,456,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Humana by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 899,191 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $284,810,000 after acquiring an additional 26,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd boosted its stake in Humana by 115.4% during the third quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 14,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HUM. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $392.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Humana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.86.

Humana Stock Performance

NYSE HUM opened at $296.78 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.31 and a 52-week high of $504.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $35.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.52.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

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.