Humana (NYSE:HUM) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners cut shares of Humana (NYSE:HUM) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $250.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $400.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens cut shares of Humana from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $400.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Humana from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Humana in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $374.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $396.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued an overweight rating and a $392.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $357.24.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $240.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $337.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $342.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. Humana has a 1-year low of $213.31 and a 1-year high of $530.54.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $6.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.89 by $1.07. The business had revenue of $29.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.52 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 1.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Humana will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humana

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its stake in Humana by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 2,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Humana during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Humana during the 4th quarter worth about $440,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Humana by 240.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 18,711 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,209 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Humana by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 21,092 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,657,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

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.