Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Increases Stock Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Humana were worth $719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Humana by 0.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,708,167 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,776,072,000 after buying an additional 25,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Humana by 0.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,234,477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,082,060,000 after buying an additional 16,692 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Humana by 6.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $992,938,000 after acquiring an additional 119,760 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Humana by 35.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 402,559 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Humana during the fourth quarter worth $690,516,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Humana Price Performance

Humana stock opened at $316.29 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.23 and a 12-month high of $541.21. The stock has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $348.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $431.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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). Humana had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $26.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 17.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HUM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $507.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price objective (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TheStreet cut shares of Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $465.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by company insiders.

Humana 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.