HTLF Bank Purchases Shares of 833 Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Humana during the 4th quarter worth approximately $690,516,000. Starboard Value LP bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the 1st quarter valued at $421,332,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Humana by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after buying an additional 402,559 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Humana in the 1st quarter worth $151,766,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Humana by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,688,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $864,804,000 after buying an additional 290,865 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In other Humana news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet lowered Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $550.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $342.00 price target (down previously from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Humana has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $465.42.

Humana Trading Up 1.1 %

HUM stock opened at $328.33 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a 12 month low of $299.23 and a 12 month high of $541.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $330.40 and its 200 day moving average is $400.99. The company has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued 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 for 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 business’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.86%.

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.