Humana (NYSE:HUM) Stock Price Up 1.4% Following Dividend Announcement

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) shot up 1.4% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $329.71 and last traded at $329.33. 230,094 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 1,985,120 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.83.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Humana’s payout ratio is 17.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Humana from $427.00 to $396.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $465.42.

Humana Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $343.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.01.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 19.44% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Humana by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,708,167 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,776,072,000 after purchasing an additional 25,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 0.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,234,477 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,082,060,000 after acquiring an additional 16,692 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Humana by 6.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $992,938,000 after acquiring an additional 119,760 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Humana by 35.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 402,559 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Humana in the fourth quarter worth about $676,800,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.