Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 2,027 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 151.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Humana were worth $854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Humana by 6,647.5% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 27,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Humana by 735.9% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 219,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,563,000 after purchasing an additional 192,801 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 190.0% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Humana in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Humana by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $371,705,000 after acquiring an additional 71,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HUM. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $247.00 to $308.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $285.68.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HUM opened at $255.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $269.41 and its 200 day moving average is $290.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.56. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $406.46.

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

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.58%.

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.