Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock Price

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its target price lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $301.00 to $285.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on HUM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America upgraded Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Humana from $253.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.84.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of HUM opened at $256.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $273.00 and a 200 day moving average of $295.72. The company has a market capitalization of $30.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.56. Humana has a 12 month low of $213.31 and a 12 month high of $406.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Humana

In other news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Humana by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,254,899,000 after buying an additional 1,751,857 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,132 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Humana by 435.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,098,702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $279,236,000 after purchasing an additional 893,637 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Humana by 261,025.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,340,660,000 after purchasing an additional 738,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,073,387,000 after buying an additional 643,291 shares during the period. 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.