Palo Alto Investors LP Buys Shares of 3,985 Humana Inc. $HUM

Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,582,922,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HUM. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 167 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Humana by 192.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 73 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Humana by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 5,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HUM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Humana from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Humana from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Humana from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Monday. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $513.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $403.91.

Humana Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:HUM opened at $392.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $385.08 and a 200 day moving average of $287.78. The company has a market cap of $47.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72. Humana Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.11 and a 12-month high of $428.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $7.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.27 by $0.34. Humana had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $40.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.

About Humana

Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM) is a health insurance company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that primarily serves individuals and groups across the United States. The company is best known for its Medicare business, offering Medicare Advantage plans and prescription drug (Part D) coverage, alongside a range of commercial and employer-sponsored group health plans. Humana’s products are designed to cover medical, behavioral health and pharmacy needs for members, with particular emphasis on seniors and Medicare-eligible populations.

In addition to traditional insurance products, Humana provides care-management and wellness services intended to support chronic-condition management, preventive care and care coordination.