Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,048 shares of the bank's stock after selling 16,576 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $2,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CATY. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 68.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,730 shares of the bank's stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $180,000. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ CATY opened at $44.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.03. Cathay General Bancorp has a one year low of $34.75 and a one year high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 10.70%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

About Cathay General Bancorp

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CATY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.