First Trust Advisors LP Buys 675,819 Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 61.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,770,377 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 675,819 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.97% of Fulton Financial worth $34,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FULT. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 567,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,007,000 after purchasing an additional 34,844 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,377,428 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,837,000 after acquiring an additional 19,329 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 291,302 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,616,000 after acquiring an additional 17,182 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 130.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,104,000 after acquiring an additional 315,435 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 151.2% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 22,607 shares of the bank's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 13,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company's stock.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

Fulton Financial stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $16.68. 1,259,927 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,490,669. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $14.33 and a twelve month high of $22.49. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.13.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.08. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The business had revenue of $322.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Fulton Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.83.

Fulton Financial Profile

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.