Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,871 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,870 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Preferred Bank worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFBC. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 43.8% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 6,056 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 70.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 11,379 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,300,000 after buying an additional 12,283 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 186,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,935,000 after buying an additional 35,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 59.6% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PFBC. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Preferred Bank Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $81.03 on Monday. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $71.43 and a twelve month high of $99.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. Research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.15%.

Preferred Bank Profile

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.