Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Sierra Bancorp from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Sierra Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BSRR opened at $29.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.19. Sierra Bancorp has a 52-week low of $17.69 and a 52-week high of $35.13. The company has a market cap of $428.10 million, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Albert L. Berra sold 2,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.24, for a total value of $81,889.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 150,063 shares in the company, valued at $4,838,031.12. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James C. Holly sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $144,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 313,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,081,462.60. This represents a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,056 shares of company stock valued at $244,741. Insiders own 11.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sierra Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sierra Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $216,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Sierra Bancorp by 301.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 12,690 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 9.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sierra Bancorp by 40.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 65,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 19,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Sierra Bancorp by 12.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 194,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,619,000 after purchasing an additional 21,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.40% of the company’s stock.

Sierra Bancorp Company Profile

Sierra Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Bank of the Sierra that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in California. It accepts various deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market demand accounts, time deposits, retirement accounts, and sweep accounts.