Millennium Management LLC Purchases 32,990 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 147,702 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 32,990 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 1.02% of Preferred Bank worth $12,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 71,955 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,222 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,848 shares of the bank's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 59.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,845 shares of the bank's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFBC traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,650. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 0.69. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $71.43 and a 52 week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $65.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.85%.

Preferred Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $125.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 10.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on PFBC. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.