Axa S.A. Trims Stock Position in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Axa S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,064 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,465 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Huntington Bancshares were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,797,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,901,000 after acquiring an additional 55,602 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,743,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,627,000 after purchasing an additional 112,146 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 129,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,127,000 after purchasing an additional 10,775 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 202,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares during the last quarter. 80.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on HBAN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Huntington Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Huntington Bancshares from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Huntington Bancshares from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus set a $17.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Huntington Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, VP Scott D. Kleinman sold 69,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 453,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,402.43. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brendan A. Lawlor sold 3,521 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now owns 47,950 shares in the company, valued at $731,237.50. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 312,456 shares of company stock worth $4,464,105 in the last ninety days. 0.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Huntington Bancshares Stock Performance

Huntington Bancshares stock opened at $15.22 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.95. The company has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. Huntington Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.33%.

Huntington Bancshares announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Huntington Bancshares Company 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.