Moors & Cabot Inc. Grows Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,639 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Humana were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Humana in the third quarter valued at $90,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Humana by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $371,705,000 after purchasing an additional 71,910 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Humana by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 333,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $105,704,000 after purchasing an additional 13,945 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Humana during the third quarter worth approximately $1,778,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Humana by 8.9% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,387 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 927 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 $298.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $330.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $35.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.52. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $527.18.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. Equities analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Humana’s payout ratio is presently 31.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Humana from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Humana in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered Humana from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.86.

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.