3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Aetna Inc (AET), Humana Inc (HUM) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)

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Wednesday was a day of slight gains for U.S. equities, with defensive utility stocks growing 1%, while healthcare stocks fell 0.6%. The S&P 500 Index edged 0.1% higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%.

3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Aetna Inc (AET), Humana Inc (HUM) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)Healthcare was the big news on the day, with Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) and Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) issuing updates on their healthcare offerings. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) was also making headlines yesterday.

Here’s how they did:

Aetna Inc (AET)

Aetna shared a rise in its healthcare plans’ Medicare ratings.

91% of the company’s customers have healthcare plans that are four-star plans, which is a 4-percentage-point increase compared to where it stood last year.

In 2017, 863 counties in the U.S. will have access to Aetna’s services, including in six new states: Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Washington and Wisconsin.

97% of these counties will have plans that stand at a 4.0 rating or higher and the 134 newly added counties will have an AetnaMedicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) rated four stars or higher.

AET shares climbed 1.5% higher after hours.

Humana Inc (HUM)

Humana is another healthcare provider, but it is moving in the opposite direction as Aetna.

The company revealed that only 37% of its subscribers have a program rated four stars under Medicare as of July, amounting to 1.17 million members.

Humana had 2.15 million members as four-star healthcare owners last year, which amounted to 78% of its plans. A recent Centers for Medicare and Medicade Services (CMS) audit led to this decline.

2018 earnings at Humana could suffer a slide adding up to $500 million due to the company’s deteriorating quality of business.

HUM shares fell 0.1% after the bell Wednesday.

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)

Wells Fargo has announced a major change in management.

CEO John Stumpf has finally resigned following the nationwide fiasco that revealed 5,300 workers creating up to 2 million false accounts that stole money from customers over a five-year period.

He accepted responsibility for the incident soon after it happened, claiming only 1% of the company’s employees are bad apples and these moves do not represent the bank as a whole.

Chief operating officer Timothy J. Sloan is taking over as CEO for the time being. Wells Fargo independent chairman Stephen Sanger will take over as board chairman.

WFC shares grew 0.8% after hours yesterday.

As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/10/3-stocks-watch-thursday-aetna-inc-aet-humana-inc-hum-wells-fargo-co-wfc/.

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