Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Gap Up to $362.10

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $362.10, but opened at $372.13. Humana shares last traded at $376.61, with a volume of 634,129 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HUM shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Humana from $334.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Humana in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $374.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James started coverage on Humana in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Humana from $411.00 to $381.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $409.55.

Humana Stock Up 3.2 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $343.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $351.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $45.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.53.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $1.11. The company had revenue of $29.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 1.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $9.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Humana by 6.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $992,938,000 after acquiring an additional 119,760 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Humana by 35.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after buying an additional 402,559 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Humana in the fourth quarter valued at about $676,800,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in Humana in the fourth quarter valued at about $489,300,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in Humana by 11,647.2% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,059,478 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,342,000 after buying an additional 1,050,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.