Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 12,283 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,597 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,283 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.44% of Preferred Bank worth $28,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFBC. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 69.9% in the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank in the third quarter worth approximately $76,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 194.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

Shares of PFBC stock opened at $87.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.98. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $66.88 and a one year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.07. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 26.20%. The company had revenue of $132.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.75 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 28.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens downgraded Preferred Bank from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.