Trust Co. of Vermont Trims Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 132 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Humana were worth $33,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HUM. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Humana by 6,647.5% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 27,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 26,856 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC grew its position in Humana by 190.0% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Humana by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $371,705,000 after buying an additional 71,910 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in Humana by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,567,000 after buying an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Humana in the 3rd quarter worth $948,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HUM shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.70.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of HUM opened at $282.63 on Tuesday. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $415.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.18. The company has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.02 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 (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. The company 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, sell-side analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.36%.

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.