Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 2,027 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 151.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,027 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Humana were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HUM. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Humana by 23.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after buying an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Humana by 55.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 600,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $190,145,000 after buying an additional 214,535 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Humana by 735.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 219,002 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,563,000 after purchasing an additional 192,801 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Humana by 8.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $793,830,000 after purchasing an additional 187,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Humana in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,102,000. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Humana

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HUM. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Humana from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Humana Stock Performance

Shares of Humana stock opened at $255.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.56. Humana Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.31 and a 12 month high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.58%.

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.