Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Receives $300.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $302.00.

HUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upgraded Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In other news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HUM. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Humana by 118.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $532,564,000 after acquiring an additional 774,085 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Humana by 261,025.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,660,000 after buying an additional 738,701 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,073,387,000 after buying an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new position in shares of Humana in the second quarter worth about $156,933,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Humana by 639.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 385,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,147,000 after acquiring an additional 333,636 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $266.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. Humana has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $464.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.17.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

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.