Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $20.28 Million Holdings in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,051,823 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,237 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.58% of Fulton Financial worth $20,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 213.6% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,307,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,706,000 after buying an additional 890,630 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust boosted its position in Fulton Financial by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 861,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,622,000 after acquiring an additional 630,152 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,544,159 shares of the bank’s stock worth $191,166,000 after acquiring an additional 444,219 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 130.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,104,000 after purchasing an additional 315,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the third quarter worth $3,489,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FULT opened at $19.35 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.42. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.79. Fulton Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $13.87 and a twelve month high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens upgraded Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Hovde Group upped their target price on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value of $275,632.18. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,317,580.58. The trade was a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.