BBR Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

BBR Partners LLC purchased a new position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 21,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,393,000. Humana makes up about 0.4% of BBR Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HUM. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Humana by 1.0% in the third 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Humana by 23.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,388,859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,073,387,000 after buying an additional 643,291 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Humana by 8.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,506,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $793,830,000 after purchasing an additional 187,903 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Humana by 6.5% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 1,173,535 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $371,705,000 after purchasing an additional 71,910 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Humana by 1.0% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 1,168,341 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $370,060,000 after purchasing an additional 11,923 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $265.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $271.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.78. Humana Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $406.46. The company has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a return on equity of 11.70% and a net margin of 1.02%. As a group, analysts expect that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Humana’s payout ratio is 35.58%.

Insider Activity at Humana

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total value of $948,930.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,096,463.06. This represents a 31.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Humana from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Humana from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.68.

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.