Boston Partners Purchases 893,637 Shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Boston Partners lifted its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 435.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,098,702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 893,637 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Humana were worth $279,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HUM. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its stake in Humana by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Humana in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in Humana by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timothy S. Huval sold 3,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.26, for a total transaction of $948,930.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,181 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Humana from $257.00 to $256.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Humana has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.68.

Humana Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:HUM opened at $269.86 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $271.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.29. The company has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.31 and a twelve month high of $406.46.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.26) by $0.10. Humana had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 11.70%. Analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 EPS for the current year.

Humana Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.885 per share. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.58%.

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.