Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $300.50.

Several research firms recently weighed in on HUM. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $392.00 to $274.00 in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE HUM opened at $262.47 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $313.96. Humana has a 52 week low of $213.31 and a 52 week high of $471.37. The stock has a market cap of $31.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55. 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 issued 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. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. Analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.14 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In other 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 directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Humana

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Humana by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $532,564,000 after purchasing an additional 774,085 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Humana by 261,025.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,660,000 after acquiring an additional 738,701 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after acquiring an additional 643,291 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new stake in Humana in the second quarter worth approximately $156,933,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Humana by 639.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 385,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,147,000 after purchasing an additional 333,636 shares during the last quarter. 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.