Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $26.62 Million Stock Holdings in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE:BANC - Free Report) by 15.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,875,760 shares of the bank's stock after selling 354,709 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.18% of Banc of California worth $26,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BANC. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at about $97,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Banc of California by 41.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,049 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the first quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Banc of California during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $156,000. 86.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Banc of California Price Performance

Shares of Banc of California stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.10. 2,745,832 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,309,240. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.67. Banc of California, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.52 and a twelve month high of $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $14.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.38.

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Banc of California had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The business had revenue of $266.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Banc of California's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Banc of California, Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Banc of California Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Banc of California's payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Banc of California news, Director James Andrew Barker purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.16 per share, with a total value of $131,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 169,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,232,988.80. The trade was a 6.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Lashley sold 37,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.20, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,280,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,379,976. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,208,000. 2.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BANC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Banc of California in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Banc of California from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Banc of California from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Banc of California from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Banc of California from $20.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.33.

About Banc of California

Banc of California, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Banc of California that provides various banking products and services in California. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, savings, money market, demand, and time deposits; certificates of deposit; retirement accounts; and safe deposit boxes.