Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $1.68 Million Stock Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,050 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 42,950 shares during the quarter. 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 and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Carlson Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 163,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Huntington Bancshares by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Huntington Bancshares by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 20,019 shares of the bank’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 13,766 shares of the bank’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In related news, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $53,695.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,950 shares in the company, valued at $731,237.50. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kendall A. Kowalski sold 3,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction 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 represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 211,051 shares of company stock valued at $2,992,685. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HBAN stock opened at $14.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.89. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1 year low of $11.92 and a 1 year high of $18.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.97.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on HBAN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.50 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.50 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus set a $17.00 price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.45.

About Huntington Bancshares

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.