Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Humana (NYSE:HUM)

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 12,200 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the typical volume of 9,271 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Humana by 538.7% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,318,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $866,250,000 after buying an additional 1,955,375 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,311,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $863,640,000 after purchasing an additional 321,233 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 118.9% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $532,564,000 after purchasing an additional 774,085 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Humana by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,183,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $442,396,000 after purchasing an additional 24,842 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Humana by 11,647.2% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,059,478 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,459 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Humana Stock Performance

HUM traded up $8.86 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,082,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,446. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $334.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.37. Humana has a one year low of $213.31 and a one year high of $530.54. The firm has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business posted $8.94 earnings per share. Humana’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Humana will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 22.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on HUM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Humana from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Humana from $332.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.86.

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.