Humana (NYSE:HUM) Price Target Cut to $326.00

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its price objective trimmed by UBS Group from $334.00 to $326.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

HUM has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Humana from $507.00 to $415.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays decreased 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. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Humana from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $424.50.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of HUM stock opened at $305.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.59. Humana has a 1 year low of $299.23 and a 1 year high of $541.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $327.77 and a 200 day moving average of $393.91.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. The company had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 17.76%. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Humana will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

Insider Transactions at Humana

In other Humana news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, 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 can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Humana by 6.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 402,559 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Humana during the fourth quarter worth about $676,800,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Humana by 5.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,327,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $645,850,000 after purchasing an additional 64,245 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at about $489,300,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.