Lazard Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,746 shares of the bank's stock after selling 29,202 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Fulton Financial by 193.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,294 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Fulton Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,976 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,455 shares of the bank's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FULT. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Fulton Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.30.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FULT traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $17.16. The company had a trading volume of 769,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,435,985. Fulton Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $14.33 and a 52-week high of $22.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.04.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $322.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.07 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.35%.

Fulton Financial Company Profile

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.