Bank of America Corp DE Sells 7,460 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,208 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,460 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.15% of Preferred Bank worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 3,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFBC opened at $84.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.11. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.43 and a 52 week high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 0.69.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.10). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $125.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PFBC shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

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.