Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Humana were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Humana during the fourth quarter valued at $690,516,000. Starboard Value LP bought a new stake in shares of Humana in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $421,332,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Humana by 35.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,523,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $741,409,000 after acquiring an additional 402,559 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Humana in the first quarter valued at approximately $151,766,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Humana by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,688,442 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $864,804,000 after acquiring an additional 290,865 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Humana

In related news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita acquired 545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $367.09 per share, for a total transaction of $200,064.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HUM shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Humana from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $391.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $465.42.

Humana Stock Performance

HUM opened at $331.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.45. Humana Inc. has a 1 year low of $299.23 and a 1 year high of $541.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $346.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.87). Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The business had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.06 EPS for the current year.

Humana Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.86%.

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.