MML Investors Services LLC Purchases 638 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $1,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 5.2% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,189 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,941,000 after purchasing an additional 4,757 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 41.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the second quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Private Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,293,000. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the second quarter valued at approximately $380,000. 92.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Humana Trading Down 10.2 %

Shares of Humana stock opened at $233.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.53. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $274.43 and a 200 day moving average of $322.89. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $475.00.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $29.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.66 billion. Humana had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 13.20%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 31.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HUM. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Humana from $380.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Humana from $400.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $519.00 to $253.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Humana from $288.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $300.50.

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.