Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,977,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Humana by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,294 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Humana by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Humana by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 44,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,720,000 after acquiring an additional 4,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Humana from $411.00 to $381.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Humana from $334.00 to $326.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $424.50.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of HUM stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $324.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,279,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,296. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $323.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $385.94. Humana Inc. has a 1-year low of $298.61 and a 1-year high of $541.21. The company has a market cap of $39.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.49.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. Humana had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.04%.

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.