River Road Asset Management LLC Takes $3.47 Million Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,465,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,736,000 after buying an additional 1,103,132 shares during the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana in the fourth quarter worth $1,162,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Humana by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Humana by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Humana currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.68.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of HUM stock opened at $250.21 on Wednesday. Humana Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.31 and a 52 week high of $406.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.65. The firm has a market cap of $30.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Humana 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.