Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Acquired by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 174,176 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 24,871 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.24% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $8,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CATY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cathay General Bancorp

In related news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 729 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $32,805.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 722,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,077. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.48. 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 one year low of $34.75 and a one year high of $55.29.

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

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Cathay General Bancorp's payout ratio is 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.