Van ECK Associates Corp Invests $424,000 in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Humana by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 360,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $114,462,000 after purchasing an additional 64,118 shares during the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. boosted its position in Humana by 5.7% in the third quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 7,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Humana by 35.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 2,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $790,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

HUM stock opened at $280.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $287.94 and its 200-day moving average is $332.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.52. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $527.18.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.66 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 15.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.86.

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.