Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,469 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,301 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.70% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $8,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 22,391 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 428,321 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,164,000 after acquiring an additional 69,856 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $480,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 81,602 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,508,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on DCOM shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $51,160.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,392 shares in the company, valued at $905,327.36. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.53. 351,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $27.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.16. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.53 and a 1 year high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $105.83 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 6.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 158.73%.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans.