Ellsworth Advisors LLC Buys 347 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Humana accounts for about 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $4,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HUM. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Humana by 504.3% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 4,090 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Humana by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Humana by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 64,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,563,000 after buying an additional 5,672 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management raised its stake in Humana by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 7,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,461,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Humana by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,664,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Humana news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

NYSE HUM traded down $2.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $346.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,583,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,477,071. The company has a market capitalization of $41.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $362.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $442.64. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $334.54 and a twelve month high of $541.21.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. Humana’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Humana’s payout ratio is 17.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on HUM shares. StockNews.com lowered Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Humana from $507.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stephens lowered their target price on Humana from $550.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $597.00 to $391.00 in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $494.00.

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.