Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Gap Up to $314.64

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $314.64, but opened at $329.99. Humana shares last traded at $324.23, with a volume of 496,981 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HUM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (down from $530.00) on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Humana from $550.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Humana has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $465.42.

Humana Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $344.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $39.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.45.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Humana’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.86%.

Insider Activity at Humana

In other Humana news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of Humana stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Humana by 4.0% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Humana by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,660 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,463,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Humana by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Humana by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Humana by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 29,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,971,000 after buying an additional 5,964 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.