38,734 Shares in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 38,734 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,667,000. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Cathay General Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CATY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $36,231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 112.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 331,862 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,800,000 after purchasing an additional 175,737 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 339.6% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 143,727 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 111,034 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,861,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $136,236,000 after purchasing an additional 102,724 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,587,000. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CATY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cathay General Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CATY traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $44.80. The stock had a trading volume of 216,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,169. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 0.92. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average of $45.24.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.