Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $269.04, but opened at $281.85. Humana shares last traded at $282.67, with a volume of 312,372 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HUM shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.00.

Humana Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $34.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $310.27.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Insider Activity at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. This represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Humana by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $532,564,000 after buying an additional 774,085 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Humana by 261,025.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,340,660,000 after purchasing an additional 738,701 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 643,291 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new stake in Humana in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $156,933,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Humana by 639.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 385,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $144,147,000 after acquiring an additional 333,636 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.