Northern Trust Corp Purchases 21,101 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 338,569 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 21,101 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.95% of Peoples Bancorp worth $10,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEBO. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 138.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,096 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 36,684 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $2,122,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $394,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 316.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,645 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 46,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 27,291 shares of the bank's stock valued at $865,000 after purchasing an additional 10,415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEBO traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.19. The stock had a trading volume of 16,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 134,597. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 0.62. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $37.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $113.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $112.76 million. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Peoples Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $30,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,686 shares in the company, valued at $775,717.20. This trade represents a 3.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEBO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts.