Short Interest in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Drops By 14.9%

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) saw a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,660,000 shares, a decrease of 14.9% from the February 13th total of 4,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nineteen equities research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.68.

Humana Stock Performance

HUM stock opened at $267.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.21. Humana has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $406.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 35.58%.

Insider Activity at Humana

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Humana by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,254,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751,857 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of Humana by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,198,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,587,345,000 after purchasing an additional 5,264,045 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Humana by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,357,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,701,582,000 after purchasing an additional 53,272 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,736,000 after buying an additional 1,103,132 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 23.4% in the 3rd 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. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Humana

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.