Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in Cathay General Bancorp $CATY

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 51.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,933 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,671 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5,438.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 319.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 1,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction of $46,830.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $140,490. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chang Liu sold 5,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.24, for a total transaction of $238,829.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 108,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,016,022.72. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,820,148. 4.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CATY opened at $50.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.06 and a 1 year high of $54.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.37.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.13. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 22.76%.The company had revenue of $222.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Cathay General Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.60.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. Its principal subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides a full suite of financial services to commercial, institutional and retail clients. As a community-focused institution, the company emphasizes relationship banking and tailored solutions for businesses and individuals.

Founded in 1962 by a group of Chinese American entrepreneurs, Cathay has expanded from a single branch operation in downtown Los Angeles into one of the largest Asian-American banks in the United States.