JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $5.62 Million Stock Holdings in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,710 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.29% of Unity Bancorp worth $5,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 93.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Unity Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $845,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $339,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Unity Bancorp by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Unity Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UNTY opened at $41.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $415.60 million, a PE ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.80. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.60 and a fifty-two week high of $51.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.31.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $29.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Unity Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Unity Bancorp news, Director Mary E. Gross sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.04, for a total value of $158,532.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $887,731.16. This trade represents a 15.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $92,035.02. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $422,415.84. This represents a 17.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,791 shares of company stock valued at $380,669 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 29.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Unity Bancorp from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

About Unity Bancorp

Unity Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Unity Bank that provides range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium sized businesses, and professional communities. It offers personal and business checking accounts, time deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposits.