Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Humana by 8.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $793,830,000 after purchasing an additional 187,903 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,311,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,640,000 after acquiring an additional 321,233 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Humana by 118.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $532,564,000 after acquiring an additional 774,085 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Humana by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,183,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $442,396,000 after buying an additional 24,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,705,000 after acquiring an additional 71,910 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.86.

Humana Stock Performance

NYSE HUM opened at $298.11 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $527.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 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. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $330.68.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.36%.

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.