Humana (NYSE:HUM) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on HUM. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Humana Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HUM stock opened at $266.62 on Tuesday. Humana has a 12-month low of $213.31 and a 12-month high of $406.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $271.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. Equities research analysts predict that Humana will post 16.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Humana’s payout ratio is 35.58%.

Insider Activity at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Humana

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Humana by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,254,899,000 after buying an additional 1,751,857 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Humana by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,198,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,587,345,000 after buying an additional 5,264,045 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Humana by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,357,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,701,582,000 after buying an additional 53,272 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Humana by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,736,000 after buying an additional 1,103,132 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Humana by 23.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,073,387,000 after buying an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Company 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.