MML Investors Services LLC Increases Stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 14.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,971 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,967 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners bought a new stake in Fulton Financial during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Fulton Financial by 28.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the second quarter worth about $172,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the second quarter valued at about $178,000. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fulton Financial news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. The trade was a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FULT opened at $19.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.77. Fulton Financial Co. has a one year low of $13.87 and a one year high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. The firm had revenue of $487.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 45.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FULT. Stephens raised shares of Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.