New Century Financial Group LLC Invests $1.18 Million in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,183,000. Humana makes up 0.8% of New Century Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Humana by 6.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $992,938,000 after acquiring an additional 119,760 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Humana by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 402,559 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $676,800,000. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana in the fourth quarter worth approximately $489,300,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Humana by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 984,618 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $450,749,000 after acquiring an additional 8,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HUM. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Humana in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $392.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Humana from $334.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Humana in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $374.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus lowered Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $409.55.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE:HUM traded down $11.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $362.85. 750,723 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,232,076. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.61 and a 1 year high of $530.54. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.12.

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

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

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.