Quest Partners LLC Takes $701,000 Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 4.5% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,370 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Humana by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 406,993 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $141,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,778 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Humana by 34.9% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 135,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,995,000 after purchasing an additional 35,069 shares during the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 30.6% in the first quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the 1st quarter worth $158,813,000. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of Humana stock opened at $298.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.31 and a 1-year high of $527.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $330.64.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. The company 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HUM. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Leerink Partnrs lowered Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.86.

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.