J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 53,005 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 222.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,802 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 53,005 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,599,986 shares of the bank's stock worth $855,802,000 after buying an additional 2,310,502 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,479,039 shares of the bank's stock worth $528,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759,871 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 9.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,828,775 shares of the bank's stock worth $357,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $302,826,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,422,723 shares of the bank's stock worth $234,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of HBAN stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $16.84. 47,060,112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,499,588. The company has a market cap of $24.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.34 and a 200-day moving average of $15.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a one year low of $11.91 and a one year high of $18.44.

Huntington Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.93%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HBAN shares. Cowen started coverage on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus set a $17.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $21.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.68.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, EVP Marcy C. Hingst sold 13,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.79, for a total transaction of $216,323.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 337,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,335,109.41. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Helga Houston sold 42,345 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.72, for a total transaction of $623,318.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 592,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,715,991.68. The trade was a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,105 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,743 in the last 90 days. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Profile

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services.