Quest Partners LLC Takes $701,000 Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Humana by 3.0% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 105,976 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Humana during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,456,000. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd increased its position in Humana by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mandatum Life Insurance Co Ltd now owns 14,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its stake in shares of Humana by 3.0% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 67,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Humana by 472.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares in the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on HUM shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Humana from $349.00 to $250.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners cut Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.86.

Humana Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Humana stock opened at $298.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $330.64. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $527.18. The company has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.66 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. Research analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

Humana 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.