Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Humana were worth $54,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Humana by 538.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,318,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $866,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,375 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Humana by 118.9% in the second 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 261,025.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,340,660,000 after purchasing an additional 738,701 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,073,387,000 after purchasing an additional 643,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the 2nd quarter valued at $156,933,000. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HUM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Humana from $400.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.50.

Humana Price Performance

Humana stock opened at $247.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53. Humana Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.31 and a 12-month high of $475.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $273.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $320.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.36%.

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.