Oppenheimer Cuts Humana (NYSE:HUM) Price Target to $370.00

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its price target reduced by Oppenheimer from $415.00 to $370.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial restated a hold rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, January 19th. Argus cut Humana from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Humana from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $342.00 target price (down previously from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $424.50.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $305.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $393.91. Humana has a 52-week low of $299.23 and a 52-week high of $541.21.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. The business had revenue of $29.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 1.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of Humana stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was bought 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 $946,358.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Humana by 2.3% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,869,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Humana by 27.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,943 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,595,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana in the third quarter worth about $4,865,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 27,993 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,455 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Humana by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 64,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,563,000 after purchasing an additional 5,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.