Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Grows Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 71.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,050 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 42,950 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 17,533.3% during the fourth quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,830 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Huntington Bancshares by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Huntington Bancshares

In other Huntington Bancshares news, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 3,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total value of $49,793.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 66,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $969,281.50. This trade represents a 4.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 453,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 312,456 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,105 over the last quarter. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Huntington Bancshares stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,567,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,396,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $11.92 and a 12 month high of $18.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.96.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.50 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $17.00 price target on Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.45.

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.