Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Humana worth $41,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HUM. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 643,291 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Humana by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 600,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $190,145,000 after buying an additional 214,535 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Humana by 735.9% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 219,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,563,000 after buying an additional 192,801 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Humana by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $793,830,000 after buying an additional 187,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $255.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.45. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is 35.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HUM. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $283.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Humana currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Insider Activity at Humana

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of Humana stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Humana 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.