Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Short Interest Update

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,580,000 shares, a decrease of 11.6% from the January 15th total of 5,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,096,463.06. This represents a 31.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Humana by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC boosted its stake in Humana by 104.5% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 29,057 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in Humana by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 873 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Humana in the 4th quarter valued at about $387,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 14,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HUM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of HUM traded up $3.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $257.24. 1,418,958 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,706,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.21. Humana has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $406.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. As a group, research analysts predict that Humana will post 16.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.