Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 18.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 936,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 206,516 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.78% of Humana worth $296,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Humana by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,357,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,701,582,000 after acquiring an additional 53,272 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Humana by 23.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after purchasing an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Humana by 8.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $793,830,000 after purchasing an additional 187,903 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in Humana by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,311,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,640,000 after buying an additional 321,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Humana by 118.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,425,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $532,564,000 after buying an additional 774,085 shares during the last quarter. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on HUM. Jefferies Financial Group cut Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Humana from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Humana from $387.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.15.

Humana Stock Up 0.5 %

Humana stock opened at $274.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $274.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.53. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $486.00. The company has a market capitalization of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $29.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.66 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 13.20% and a net margin of 1.18%. Research analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

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.