Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 105,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,720,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Humana during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in Humana by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Humana Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HUM opened at $253.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.52. The company has a market capitalization of $30.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Humana Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.31 and a 1-year high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HUM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $283.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $285.68.

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.