Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Shares Sold by Checchi Capital Advisers LLC

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Humana by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 6,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Humana by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Humana by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 236 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Humana by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Humana Trading Up 2.5 %

Humana stock opened at $261.49 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $406.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $270.64 and its 200-day moving average is $287.87. The company has a market cap of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.56.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 35.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Humana from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

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.