Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 770 Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 0.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 144,346 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FULT. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 511.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,256,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,723,170 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 213.6% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,307,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,706,000 after purchasing an additional 890,630 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 861,691 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,622,000 after buying an additional 630,152 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Fulton Financial by 710.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 699,652 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,880,000 after buying an additional 613,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 28.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,542,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,164,000 after buying an additional 567,771 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

FULT opened at $19.86 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.77. Fulton Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $13.87 and a 52-week high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The company had revenue of $487.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fulton Financial news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,299,817.36. The trade was a 13.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.