Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Stake Lessened by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,112 shares of the bank's stock after selling 6,169 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $1,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,230,722 shares of the bank's stock worth $201,426,000 after acquiring an additional 12,684 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,861,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $136,236,000 after purchasing an additional 102,724 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,341,000 after purchasing an additional 85,963 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank's stock valued at $70,037,000 after purchasing an additional 72,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,268,030 shares of the bank's stock worth $60,371,000 after buying an additional 6,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CATY shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cathay General Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.60.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $32,805.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,000. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.85% of the company's stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ CATY traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 92,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 354,821. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.91. 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 52-week low of $34.75 and a 52-week high of $55.29. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.08.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $187.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Cathay General Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.34%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

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.