Avanza Fonder AB Takes $2.52 Million Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,947 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,524,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Humana in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP increased its stake in Humana by 81.8% during the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Humana in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners cut shares of Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.70.

Humana Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE HUM opened at $282.63 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.31 and a 52 week high of $415.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $273.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.67.

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. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors 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 is currently 31.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.