Raymond James & Associates Acquires 3,341 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,341 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.08% of Humana worth $31,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Humana by 9.2% during the second quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 213 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Humana by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Humana by 10.5% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in Humana by 1.0% during the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 4,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Humana Stock Performance

HUM stock opened at $258.61 on Thursday. Humana Inc. has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $527.18. The firm has a market cap of $31.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $337.43.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.89 by $1.07. Humana had a net margin of 1.53% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company had revenue of $29.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.94 earnings per share. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Humana from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.33.

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.