Humana (NYSE:HUM) Shares Gap Up to $314.64

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $314.64, but opened at $329.99. Humana shares last traded at $324.23, with a volume of 496,981 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on HUM. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Humana from $450.00 to $385.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price target (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $595.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Humana in a report on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price (down from $530.00) on shares of Humana in a report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $465.42.

Humana Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $344.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.71. The firm has a market cap of $39.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.59.

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

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s payout ratio is 17.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita bought 545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Humana

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Humana in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Humana by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 60 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.