Humana (NYSE:HUM) Trading Down 1.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) fell 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $415.00 to $353.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Humana traded as low as $307.00 and last traded at $308.01. 304,738 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,983,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.41.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Argus downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $415.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $342.00 target price (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Humana during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 60 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Humana in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Humana in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Nvwm LLC grew its stake in Humana by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Stock Down 1.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $394.49.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. The business had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.04%.

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.