Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Short Interest Update

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,660,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the February 13th total of 4,300,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUM has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Humana presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Humana Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Humana stock traded down $3.89 on Wednesday, hitting $265.89. The stock had a trading volume of 570,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,654. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $271.45 and a 200 day moving average of $278.29. Humana has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $406.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that Humana will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Humana

In other Humana news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,096,463.06. The trade was a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Humana

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 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.