Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock Price Up 2%

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)’s share price shot up 2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $330.00 and last traded at $320.84. 742,737 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 2,002,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HUM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James began coverage on Humana in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $465.42.

Humana Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $39.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $344.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.71.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.87). The business had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. Humana’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Humana’s payout ratio is 17.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of Humana stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,708,167 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,776,072,000 after purchasing an additional 25,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,234,477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,082,060,000 after purchasing an additional 16,692 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $992,938,000 after purchasing an additional 119,760 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after purchasing an additional 402,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Humana in the 4th quarter valued at $676,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.