JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Stake in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN - Free Report) by 61.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,468,363 shares of the bank's stock after selling 18,009,623 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.79% of Huntington Bancshares worth $168,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HBAN. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 6.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,743,357 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,627,000 after purchasing an additional 112,146 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,797,771 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,901,000 after buying an additional 55,602 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Huntington Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,381,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Huntington Bancshares by 286.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 474,752 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,979,000 after acquiring an additional 351,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.72% of the company's stock.

Huntington Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of HBAN traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $16.27. 12,261,556 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,809,704. Huntington Bancshares Incorporated has a 1 year low of $12.02 and a 1 year high of $18.44. The stock's 50 day moving average is $16.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Huntington Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Huntington Bancshares Incorporated will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Huntington Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th 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 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Huntington Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.62%.

Insider Transactions at Huntington Bancshares

In other news, insider Helga Houston sold 6,455 shares of Huntington Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.43, for a total value of $99,600.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 558,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,615,217.06. The trade was a 1.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Zachary Jacob Wasserman sold 8,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total transaction of $152,393.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 259,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,582,795.09. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,699 shares of company stock worth $757,356 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HBAN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Huntington Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Bancshares from $16.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $20.00 price target (up previously from $18.50) on shares of Huntington Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Huntington Bancshares from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Huntington Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.56.

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.