Posts for Ticker ‘HUM’

Should Healthcare Insurers Be Close to 52-Week Highs (UNH, WLP, CI, HUM, AET)

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and most healthcare related insurers are trading higher today despite the coming health-insurance reform.  The Senate voted over the weekend to open a debate on its version, or versions, of a healthcare reform bill.  While this is aimed at getting insurance to 31 million people, even the executives of the large insurers do not exactly know what the impact will be.  And if they do know, they are not saying anything to their employees and partners.  The public option is still an unresolved issue.  These stocks are all higher, but the real amazement is that most of these stocks are actually all trading up close to 52-week highs.

WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) is up over 4% at $54.47 (52-week high is $55.72) and CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) is up almost 7% at $32.13 (52-week high is $33.00) after J.P.Morgan raised their ratings to Overweight.
Read More »

Posted on: November 23, 2009 – 2:40 pm in Healthcare, Politics, , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (AET, AMZN, AMX, BJ, CAL, ERTS, FO, FPIC, HUM, MAR, HOT)

These are this Wednesday morning’s top analyst upgrades and positive research calls that we have seen from Wall Street:

Aetna (AET) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Amazon.com (AMZN) Raised to Buy at BofA Merrill Lynch.
America Movil (AMX) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Continental (CAL) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Fortune Brands (FO) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
FPIC Insurance (FPIC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Humana (HUM) STarted as Buy at Collins-Stewart.
Marriott Hotels (MAR) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Starwood Hotels (HOT) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 16, 2009 – 8:22 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , ,

Still No Death Blow for Insurers (AET, HUM, UNH)

Bull and Bear ImageThe Obama speech to a joint session of Congress last night did not exactly deliver the death blow to health insurers.  It also did not give the insurers the keys to the palace.  Despite the call for an exchange and the notion of a public option still being included, there was a backdoor left open for this to be in regional markets where there is limited competition.  There are other potential workarounds that need to be met, and the real wild card is going to be over new entrants in pre-existing conditions.  So far we are seeing a positive move in top health insurers like Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), and UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH).
Read More »

Posted on: September 10, 2009 – 10:31 am in Healthcare, Medical, Politics, , ,

Top Day Trader Alerts (SVNT, HURN, RPRX, EBAY, HUM, ONTY)

The following are among the top day trader and active trader alert stocks with major price and volume action.  We have links to more detailed analysis and price action at VSInvestor.com:

Savient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SVNT) is among the worst performers on disappointing FDA action on its gout treatment.

Huron Consulting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HURN) is the worst performer on earnings restatements and management being replaced.

Repros Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RPRX) is down sharply by over 50% after stopping trials on patient safety.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is up over 4% after getting the barron’s cover story.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is up over 4% on higher earnings growth.

Oncothyreon Inc. (NASDAQ: ONTY) is up big on lung cancer study data.

The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Posted on: August 3, 2009 – 8:38 am in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , ,

CBO Pans Healthcare Plan

uncle sam

Obama’s health care received perhaps its harshest criticism to-date Thursday, after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it will “significantly” expand public spending in an already unbalanced budget.

The testimony puts serious doubt in the ability that a health care reform bill might be passed ahead of the August recess. In the near-term, that may be seen as a boon for private health insurance providers including Aetna Inc. (AET), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), United Health Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and HealthNet Inc. (NYSE: HNT). Read More »

Posted on: July 16, 2009 – 2:10 pm in Healthcare, , , ,

Health Net’s Major Loss.. Likely Lesson For All Insurers (HNT, HUM, AET, UNH)

Burning Money PicHealth Net Inc. (NYSE: HNT) is one of today’s worse performers on the heels of losing its Pentagon health insurance contract.  The Pentagon picked Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) for its Tricare health program  for members of the armed forces, their families, and survivors.  They will replace Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and Health Net Inc. in 2010.  There is an interesting take here, and it is one that all large health care insurers serving federal and local governments should pay close attention to now that the Administration is on the attack in the field of health care insurance.
Read More »

Posted on: July 14, 2009 – 11:42 am in Medical, Politics, , , ,

The Big Morning Movers Analysis

bearSeveral stocks will make major moves at the open.

Noven (NOVN) is up on a buyout.

Changes in military healthcare buying may effect Aetna (AET), United Health (UNH), and Humana (HUM).

Novellus (NVLS) is likely to move on large volume after earnings news.

Dell (DELL) is dropping on negative comments about the last quarter.

CIT (CIT) is up more than 20% in the pre-market on news that it may get government bail-out funds.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 14, 2009 – 7:07 am in Most Actives, , , , , , ,

Health Care Companies Play Let’s Make A Deal (CI, AET, HUM, UNH, WLP, CVH, THC, HLS)

biotech

Managed health care company stocks are rising Tuesday despite press reports that hospitals will contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward insuring the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have coverage.

The cuts would largely come from the amount the insurers receive as reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.

Shares of Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), and UnitedHealthGroup Inc (NYSE: UNH) each are up more than 4 percent in early trading, with shares of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) also on the rise.

Read more at BioHealth Investor….

Posted on: July 7, 2009 – 9:21 am in Healthcare, , , , , ,

Medicare Winners Under New Healthcare Plans (MRK, PFE, AET, CI, CVH, HUM, UNH, WLP)

Everyone is trying to figure out who the winners and losers are likely to be under a watered-down healthcare program under the Obama administration and with a Democratic Congress.  What is certain is that changes to the old way of healthcare are coming, yet the uncertainty is becoming just how far away from the existing model this will get.  Mike Tarsala contributed a a brief round of explanations for the way this will likely impact drug giants Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).  There is also a solid take on how companies like Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM), Coventry Health Care Inc. (NYSE: CVH), Cigna corp. (NYSE: CI), United Health (NYSE: UNH), WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) are likely to be viewed.

More details of this can be seen at BioHealthInvestor.com.

Posted on: June 22, 2009 – 12:21 pm in Drug companies, Healthcare, Medical, Politics, , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AIG, AZN, GLUU, GSIC, HOLX, HUM, JASO, LEAP, MON, WBD)

These are not the only analyst calls this morning, but these are 10 impact calls we are reviewing this Thursday morning:

  • American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Cut To Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  • Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
  • Hologic (NASDAQ: HOLX) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Humana (NYSE: HUM) raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  • JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) Raised to Overweight at Lehman.
  • Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) Raised to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Monsanto (NYSE: MON) raised to Buy at Banc of America.
  • Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE: WBD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse,

Jon C. Ogg
March 13, 2008

Posted on: March 13, 2008 – 6:24 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (AMR)(KLAC)(HUM)

Progenics Pharmaceuticals (PGNX) Clinical trials fail. Drops to $4.33 from 52-week high of $27.59.

Divx Inc (DIVX) Bad 2008 forecast. Shares sell off to $6.12 from 52-week high of $23.76.

Immucor (BLUD) Buy-out of smaller company kills share price. Down to $17.30 from 52-week high of $39.96.

KLA-Tencor (KLAC) Shares downgraded. Slips to $37.75 from 52-week high of $62.67.

Humana (HUM) Cuts forecasts. Dives to $33.45 from 52-week of $88.10.

AMR Corporation (AMR) Airline stocks downgraded as oil price goes up. Plunges to $9.13 from 52-week high of $34.25.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 12, 2008 – 2:59 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , ,

WellPoint Warned, Now Humana… Blame The 2008 Election (HUM, WLP, AET)

First we saw an earnings warning out of WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) which hurt that stock and most shares in the health insurance field yesterday.  WellPoint cited several factors, including medical costs, lower fully insured enrollment, and an overall weak economy. 

Now we have a warning out of Humana (NYSE: HUM).  The blame here is being put on an analysis of pharmacy claims.  Humana’s numbers look worse with estimates for Q1 being put at $0.44 to $0.46 EPS instead of its prior range of $0.80 to $0.85.  Its full year is now put at $4.00 to $4.25 instead of its prior $5.35 to $5.55 estimate. 

Humana shares opened lower by 25% to under $35.00 in pre-market trading, which will mark a 52-week low and more than half off from its $88.10 highs over the last year.  Shares fell from $over $62 to $47.38 yesterday after WellPoint warned.

The real culprit here may be something far more simple, although this will likely be denied by the insurance industry.  It is an election year and there is a larger chance for government-mandated universal coverage in some form or fashion than there has been in recent election years.  Some insurance professionals believe that in an election year insurance companies don’t like to raise rates so that healthcare costs are not out of control around as voters hit the polls.  Insurance executives keeping up with election coverage already know that healthcare and health insurance rank among the top issues candidates discuss.  This is starting to look all too familiar.

So far, Aetna (NYSE: AET) claimed that it was maintaining its guidance while competitors have lowered numbers.  There is still a lot of the calendar left for 2008.

Douglas A. McIntyre
March 12, 2008

Posted on: March 12, 2008 – 8:39 am in Earnings Warning, Healthcare, , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club (HUM)(WLP)(CI)(S)

Humana (HUM) Health insurers pulled down by bad news at WellPoint. Falls to $42.85 from 52-week high of $88.10.

Wellpoint (WLP) Profit warning. Drops to $46.66 from 52-week high of $90.

CIGNA Corporation (CI) Insurance whirlpool is a catch-all. Down to $36.75 from 52-week high of $57.61.

Sprint Nextel (S) Further concerns about earnings and subscriber defections. No M&A deal appears to be in the offing. Sells down to $5.55 from 52-week high of $23.42.

Suntech Power (STP) Company to offer $425 million in new notes. Shares tumble to $28.91 from 52-week high of $90.

Jones Soda (JSDA) Fourth quarter loss. Drops to $2.65 from 52-week high of $32.60.

Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI) Still falling days after CEO leaves and stock gets downgraded.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 11, 2008 – 2:59 pm in HI/LOW, , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AMD, LSI, NSM, AMZN, BHI, BDX, HUM, IACI, INTC, TXN, PCLN, SBUX, UNH)

These are not at all the only impact analyst calls kicking off the new year, but these are the calls we are focusing on this morning at 247WallSt.com:

  • Advanced Micro Systems (AMD), LSI (LSI), and National Semiconductor (NSM) all downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Banc of America.
  • Amazon.com (AMZN) raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Baker Hughes (BHI) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Becton Dickinson (BDX) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Humana (HUM) raised to Outperform at CIBC.
  • IAC/Interactive (IACI) cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  • Intel (INTC) & Texas Instruments (TXN) cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  • Priceline.com (PCLN) raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Starbucks (SBUX) downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  • United Health (UNH) downgraded to Sector Perform from Peer Perform at CIBC.

Jon C. Ogg
January 2, 2008

Posted on: January 2, 2008 – 7:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Largest Van der Moolen Specialist Stocks II (VDM, LAB, HUM, MBI, IP, MT, PFE, PHM, SAP, HOT, SYK, TXT, UA, WEN)

We have already noted the Van der Moolen (NYSE:VDM) exit of all NYSE Specialist activities and we’ve already covered some of the other key stocks where Van der Moolen acts as a Specialist in the underlying stocks.  What we wanted to look at is the underling stocks companies where Van der Moolen acts as a specialist to the companies.  The huge list can be found at http://www.vdm-usa.com/clients/alpha.asp off their web site.

Please be advised that these may have changed because we’ve already seen two merger stocks on the full list that are no longer traded.  This was taken from Van der Moolen’s site, so any errors there probably means they already laid off the I.T. editor for its web site.

Here are some of the key names for a second list: Humana Inc. (HUM), International Paper Co. (IP), MBIA Inc. (MBI), Mittal Steel Co. (MT), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Pulte Homes Inc. (PHM), SAP A.G. (SAP), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT), Stryker Corp. (SYK), Textron Inc. (TXT), Under Armour, Inc. (UA), Wendy’s International Inc. (WEN)….  Also listed is LaBranche & Co. Inc. (LAB), which is a bit ironic seeing as that this is another specialist firm. 

Jon C. Ogg
November 15, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: November 15, 2007 – 9:47 am in Brokerage Firms, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Humana’s Earnings Surge Continues (HUM)

Humana is seeing shares up at new year highs in pre-market trading this morning.  The health insurer posted $1.53 EPS versus the $1.48 estimate on revenues of $6.32 Billion versus the $6.22 Billion estimate.  Humana now sees 2007 EPS $4.75 to $4.80 versus a consensus estimate of $4.52 per share.  It also put 2008 earnings above plan with a new range of $5.30 to $5.50 EPS, while consensus estimates are $5.20.

Its expense ratios greatly improved.  The consolidated medical expense ratio mast quarter (MER) of 81.3% was 280 basis points lower than the 3Q 2006 MER of 84.1%, the combined result of a 360 basis point decline in the Government Segment MER.  The consolidated MER for Year to Date 2007 of 83.8% was 50 basis points lower than the Year to date 2006 consolidated MER of 84.3%, substantially due to the same factors driving the year-over-year improvement in 3Q07.

Shares are trading up at $80.00 pre-market, and the 52-week trading range is $51.00 to $77.83.  Memories of major woes just a few years ago are getting harder and harder to think about.

Jon C. Ogg
October 29, 2007

Posted on: October 29, 2007 – 8:07 am in Healthcare,

Top Earnings Next Week: July 30 & 31 (APC, FPL, HUM, MNST, OSTK, RSH, SUNW, VZ, AEP, ADP, AVR, BWLD, CMG, COH, RIO, FSLR, GM, IACI, IMCL, NVT, NMX, RNWK, RUTH, SIRI, UA, WFMI)

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2007
ABN AMRO (ABN)
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
Cameco (CCJ)
FPL Group (FPL)
HSBC Holdings (HBC)
Humana (HUM)
Monster Worldwide (MNST)
Overstock.com (OSTK)
RadioShack Corp. (RSH)
Simon Property (SPG)
Statoil (STO)
Sun Microsystems (SUNW)
Principal Financial Group (PFG)
Tyson Foods (TSN)
Verizon (VZ)
Wm Wrigley (WWY)

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2007
Alcan (AL)
American Capital Strategies (ACAS)
American Electric Power    (AEP)
Aon Corporation    (AOC)
Automatic Data Processing (ADP)
Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR)
Avon Products (AVP)
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (BWLD)
CBS Corp. (CBS)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)
Coach, Inc. (COH)
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce-CVRD    (RIO)
Crown Castle International (CCI)   
CryoLife, Inc. (CRY)
Denny’s Corp. (DENN)
DreamWorks Animation SKG (DWA)
Encore Acquisition Company (EAC)
FEI Company (FEIC)
First Solar (FSLR)
Fresh Del Monte (FDP)
Gartner (IT)
General Cable Corp. (BGC)
General Motors (GM)
Headwaters Inc. (HW)   
IAC/Interactive (IACI)
ImClone Systems (IMCL)
IndyMac Bancorp    (IMB)
Liz Claiborne (LIZ)
Marathon Oil (MRO)
MetLife Inc. (MET)
NAVTEQ Corp. (NVT)
NCR Corp. (NCR)
Nicor Inc. (GAS)
Northwest Airlines (NWA)
NYMEX Holdings (NMX)
PMI Group (PMI)
RealNetworks (RNWK)
RenaissanceRe Holdings (RNR)
Ruth’s Chris Steak House (RUTH)
SiRF Tech (SIRF)   
Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI)
St. Joe Company    (JOE)
Trimble Navigation (TRMB)
Tupperware Brands (TUP)
Turbochef (OVEN)
Under Armour (UA)
Valero Energy (VLO)
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)
Waste Industries (WWIN)
Waste Management (WMI)
Watts Water Tech (WTS)
WebMD Health (WBMD)   
Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

We will be following up with many of these individually over the weekend and early in the week with full earnings previews.  Have a great weekend.

-The 24/7 Wall St., LLC team

Posted on: July 27, 2007 – 3:43 pm in Calendar, Earnings, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,