NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) Stock Position Lifted by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,887 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp in the third quarter worth $57,000. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.46% of the company’s stock.

NBT Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ NBTB opened at $47.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.52. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.79 and a twelve month high of $52.44.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 9.39%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at NBT Bancorp

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director Heidi M. Hoeller purchased 678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $48.45 per share, for a total transaction of $32,849.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,872.65. The trade was a 11.77 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total value of $242,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. This represents a 16.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,694 shares of company stock valued at $277,935. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NBTB has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on NBT Bancorp in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

About NBT Bancorp

NBT Bancorp Inc, a financial holding company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management services. Its deposit products include demand deposit, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises indirect and direct consumer, home equity, mortgages, business banking loans, and commercial loans; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, agricultural, and commercial construction loans; and residential real estate loans.