Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 37 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised 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. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 681,868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $331,743,000 after purchasing an additional 192,546 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 814.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 181,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $88,448,000 after purchasing an additional 161,909 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 2,659.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 152,860 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,369,000 after purchasing an additional 147,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 32,648.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 134,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $61,619,000 after purchasing an additional 134,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on HUM shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James began coverage on Humana in a report on Friday, March 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Argus lowered Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $424.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE:HUM opened at $319.23 on Tuesday. Humana Inc. has a 52 week low of $298.61 and a 52 week high of $541.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $323.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $387.14.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.38 EPS. Humana’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

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.