Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 663,020 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 79.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,324 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 663,020 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Humana worth $44,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of Humana by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,198,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,587,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,264,045 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Humana by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,254,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,857 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the fourth quarter worth $416,202,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Humana by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Humana by 435.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,098,702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $279,236,000 after acquiring an additional 893,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:HUM opened at $249.67 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $30.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $265.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.47. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.31 and a 1 year high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.07 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $32.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. Humana’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HUM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Humana from $270.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Humana from $305.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Humana presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.76.

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.