Highland Capital Management LLC Has $5.37 Million Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,734 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,022 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $5,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in Humana by 2.6% during the third quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in Humana by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Humana by 2.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 805 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Humana by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in shares of Humana by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Humana Stock Performance

NYSE:HUM opened at $349.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $364.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.30. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $334.54 and a twelve month high of $541.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Humana Inc. will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $507.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $515.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Humana from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $597.00 to $391.00 in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Humana presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $494.00.

Insider Activity

In other Humana 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.