Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its price objective raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $288.00 to $301.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on HUM. Bank of America upgraded shares of Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped 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, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Humana has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.50.

Humana Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HUM opened at $239.85 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.31. Humana has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $475.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released 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. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Humana will post 16.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Humana by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,189 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,941,000 after buying an additional 4,757 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Humana by 41.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Humana during the second quarter worth $549,000. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,293,000. Finally, &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Humana in the 2nd quarter valued at $380,000. 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.