Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Decreases Stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. reduced its position in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,238 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 9,148 shares of the bank's stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,064 shares of the bank's stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,272 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 0.9%

Preferred Bank stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.50. 50,867 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 87,296. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $81.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 0.69. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $71.43 and a 52-week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $65.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.78 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is currently 31.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Preferred Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Preferred Bank Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.