Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,367 shares of the bank's stock after selling 103,360 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $17,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CATY. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 331,862 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,800,000 after purchasing an additional 175,737 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 339.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,341,000 after purchasing an additional 85,963 shares during the last quarter. 75.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CATY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cathay General Bancorp and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY stock traded up $1.20 on Tuesday, reaching $44.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 244,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,729. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.75 and a 52 week high of $55.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.81.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

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.