Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,904 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.70.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $280.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $274.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $309.10. 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 cap of $33.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.55. Humana Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.31 and a 52-week high of $455.53.

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

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This trade represents a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.