Principal Securities Inc. Trims Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 67.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,403 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Humana were worth $171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Humana by 244.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP increased its position in shares of Humana by 81.8% during the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in Humana by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in Humana by 1,021.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HUM. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Humana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Humana Trading Down 0.3 %

HUM stock opened at $255.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Humana’s payout ratio is 35.58%.

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.