Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 9,758 Shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 217,540 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 9,758 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $3,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HBAN. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Huntington Bancshares by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,216,233 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,788,000 after purchasing an additional 38,816 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,035,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 665,682 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,831,000 after buying an additional 11,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 137,694 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 43,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Huntington Bancshares news, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 38,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.38, for a total transaction of $552,925.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,538 shares in the company, valued at $4,825,036.44. This represents a 10.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total value of $1,013,520.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. The trade was a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of HBAN opened at $15.32 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 12 month low of $12.05 and a 12 month high of $18.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.18 and its 200-day moving average is $16.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.07.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 50.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on HBAN shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (up from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.18.

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.