Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 600,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 214,535 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Humana were worth $190,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Humana by 244.0% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Humana by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 74 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humana during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Humana from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $308.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Humana from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $519.00 to $253.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $315.86.

Humana Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of HUM opened at $275.67 on Friday. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $527.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $281.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.81. The firm has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. Analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Humana’s payout ratio is 31.36%.

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.