Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 9,609 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 58.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,878 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,609 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Peoples Bancorp were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 815.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $229,000. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.76, for a total value of $31,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $804,480.80. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dwight Eric Smith bought 1,060 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,999 shares in the company, valued at $211,859.73. This trade represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,962 shares of company stock valued at $61,110. 3.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.7%

PEBO traded down $0.48 on Friday, hitting $28.16. The company had a trading volume of 220,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.21 and a 52-week high of $37.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.67.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.18). Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $115.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $113.20 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is 56.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PEBO. Stephens cut their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $37.50 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.25.

Peoples Bancorp Company Profile

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.