Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Humana Inc. $HUM

Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HUM. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Humana by 63.9% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Humana by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Humana by 3.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of Humana by 0.9% during the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 6,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Humana by 2.8% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

Humana Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HUM opened at $251.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $278.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.89. Humana Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.87 and a 52 week high of $315.35. The stock has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.42.

Humana (NYSE:HUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.29. Humana had a net margin of 1.28% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $32.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Humana Inc. will post 16.47 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 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Humana’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HUM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Humana from $344.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Humana from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Humana from $300.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Humana from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.22.

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.