Dodge & Cox Raises Position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)

Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) by 106.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,198,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,264,045 shares during the quarter. Humana accounts for about 1.5% of Dodge & Cox’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.08% of Humana worth $2,587,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Humana by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,829,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,254,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,857 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Humana by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,609,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,132 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Humana by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,883,614 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $729,658,000 after buying an additional 63,562 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Humana by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,397,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $608,348,000 after buying an additional 550,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Humana in the 4th quarter valued at $416,202,000. 92.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HUM. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Humana from $301.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Humana from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Humana in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Humana from $270.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $283.00 target price on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.60.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of HUM opened at $284.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $34.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.31 and a fifty-two week high of $406.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $265.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $270.11.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported ($2.16) 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%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Humana’s payout ratio is currently 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.