Humana (NYSE:HUM) Trading Up 3.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)’s share price rose 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $288.00 to $301.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Humana traded as high as $242.40 and last traded at $241.04. Approximately 1,641,389 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 1,861,497 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.89.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HUM. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $392.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Humana has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HUM. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Humana by 244.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the third quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Humana during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP grew its position in Humana by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Humana during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $274.43 and its 200-day moving average is $322.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 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.