Axiom Investors LLC DE Sells 129,405 Shares of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. $FFIN

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its stake in First Financial Bankshares, Inc. by 27.5%, selling 129,405 shares during the first quarter and retaining 340,420 shares valued at approximately $12.2 million.
• First Financial Bankshares declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, with an annualized payout of $0.76 and a dividend yield of 2.1%.
• Recent analyst reports increased the target price for First Financial Bankshares, with a consensus target price now at $39.25, indicating positive sentiment from market analysts.

Axiom Investors LLC DE lowered its stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,420 shares of the bank's stock after selling 129,405 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.24% of First Financial Bankshares worth $12,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FFIN. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 161.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 714 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bankshares in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 47.5% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bankshares by 336.9% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,573 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.78% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bankshares

In other news, Director Michael B. Denny purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.02 per share, with a total value of $180,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 108,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,915,662.16. This represents a 4.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Financial Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFIN opened at $36.73 on Monday. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $30.58 and a one year high of $44.66. The business's fifty day moving average price is $36.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35 and a beta of 0.89.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.02. First Financial Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.69% and a net margin of 31.01%.The firm had revenue of $156.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. First Financial Bankshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on First Financial Bankshares from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.25.

First Financial Bankshares Profile

First Financial Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services in Texas. The company offers checking, savings and time deposits; automated teller machines, drive-in, and night deposit services; safe deposit facilities, remote deposit capture, internet banking, mobile banking, payroll cards, funds transfer, and performing other customary commercial banking services; securities brokerage services; and trust and wealth management services, including wealth management, estates administration, oil and gas management, testamentary trusts, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and agency accounts.

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