Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.12 Million Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 47.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Mariner LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 valued at $13,595,000 after buying an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana during the third quarter worth about $4,865,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 8,455 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Humana by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 64,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,563,000 after purchasing an additional 5,672 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James began coverage on Humana in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet cut Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $465.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $312.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $347.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $429.35. The stock has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.45. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $299.23 and a fifty-two week high of $541.21.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.87). Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 17.86%.

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.