Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stock Holdings Increased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,010 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,436 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares in the company, valued at $180,000. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.85% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:CATY opened at $43.12 on Friday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.91.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CATY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.17.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.