Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 830 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Humana were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Humana by 30.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,474,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Humana by 4.2% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,294 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Humana during the third quarter worth approximately $397,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Humana by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Humana by 17.3% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,358.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HUM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $356.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price objective (down from $470.00) on shares of Humana in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Humana from $411.00 to $381.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $424.50.

Humana Stock Performance

Humana stock traded down $0.44 on Friday, reaching $320.54. 1,802,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,607,966. The stock has a market cap of $38.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $324.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $388.34. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $298.61 and a twelve month high of $541.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.12 by $1.11. The business had revenue of $29.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.52 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 1.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.18 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Humana’s payout ratio is 22.04%.

Humana 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.