Humana (HUM) shares slid after Jefferies downgraded the insurer's stock, pointing to the negative impacts of th💦e company's latest ratings for its Medicare offerings.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Humana stock plunged last week after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Servic𓄧es (CMS) said the quality rating of one of its plans, which accounts for nearly half of its Medicare Advantage (MA) memberships, fell to 3.5 stars down from 4.5 stars last year. Higher st𒉰💦ar ratings generate bonus payments for the insurers that offer plans that earn them.

Today the shares, down nearly 2%, are trading at lows not seen since the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. Jefferies, meanwhile, cut its rating on Humana to “hold” from “buy,” and slashed its price target from $419 to $253, well off Wall Street's consensus around $327 according to Visible Alpha data.

The analysts said that although Humana is suing the CMS, calling its star ratings process flawed—and noting that United Health Group (UNH) and Elevance Health (ELV) both filed successful appeals last year—they are conꦏtinuing to move forward as if Humana would not win its appeal against CMS.

Shares of Humana have sunk since the CMS rating came out last week, adding to a slump that began in January when the company first warned that higher medical costs and government re🔥gulations would h🌼urt profits.