Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 80,081 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,156 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 80,081 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.75% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $8,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 26,402 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 5,533 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 902,619 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $27,748,000 after acquiring an additional 42,610 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 56,472 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $39,073,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $25.17. 80,406 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,372. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.49 and a 1 year high of $37.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.76 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 169.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DCOM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,986.40. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 1,729 shares of company stock worth $48,021 over the last 90 days. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans.