Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its price target raised by Barclays from $250.00 to $253.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler downgraded Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $392.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.48.

Humana Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE HUM traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $260.35. 473,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,851,720. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $298.90 and its 200-day moving average is $334.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.50. Humana has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $527.18.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 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 company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Institutional Trading of Humana

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Humana by 2.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 170,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana in the 3rd quarter valued at $179,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter worth $1,288,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Humana by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 54,428 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,240,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Humana by 7.4% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 336,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,598,000 after buying an additional 23,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.