Jefferies Financial Group Trims Humana (NYSE:HUM) Target Price to $381.00

Humana (NYSE:HUM) had its price target decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $411.00 to $381.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on HUM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Humana from $413.00 to $350.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Humana in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a market perform rating for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $630.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Humana from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $454.63.

Humana Trading Down 3.6 %

NYSE:HUM opened at $316.04 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $396.94. Humana has a 52-week low of $299.23 and a 52-week high of $541.21. The company has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.45. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.12 by $1.11. Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The company had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $9.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Humana will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Humana by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,040,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $992,938,000 after purchasing an additional 119,760 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Humana by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 402,559 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Humana during the 4th quarter worth about $676,800,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Humana by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,327,489 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $645,850,000 after acquiring an additional 64,245 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Humana during the 4th quarter worth about $489,300,000. 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.