Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 4,808 Shares of Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,310 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,808 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.12% of Cathay General Bancorp worth $3,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 19.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 24.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 75.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CATY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens raised Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.75.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Performance

CATY stock opened at $48.13 on Wednesday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $55.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.00.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. The business had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Insider Transactions at Cathay General Bancorp

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of Cathay General Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total transaction of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 295,252 shares in the company, valued at $15,609,973.24. This trade represents a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

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.