Humana (NYSE:HUM) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $253.00 to $255.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. 2,818,103 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 116% from the previous session’s volume of 1,305,321 shares.The stock last traded at $288.34 and had previously closed at $284.92.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HUM. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Humana in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of Humana stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUM. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Humana by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,357,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,701,582,000 after acquiring an additional 53,272 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after purchasing an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Humana by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $793,830,000 after purchasing an additional 187,903 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Humana by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,183,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $442,396,000 after purchasing an additional 24,842 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Humana by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,705,000 after buying an additional 71,910 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Stock Up 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $273.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.88.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.