Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Sells 3,400 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,238 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Preferred Bank by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Preferred Bank by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 59.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 70.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 11,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Preferred Bank stock opened at $85.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.71. Preferred Bank has a 1 year low of $71.43 and a 1 year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.78 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PFBC shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

About Preferred Bank

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.