Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $37.54 Million Stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 434,590 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 18,868 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $37,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Preferred Bank in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $843,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank during the fourth quarter worth $674,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 26,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after buying an additional 3,516 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

PFBC opened at $83.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.57. Preferred Bank has a twelve month low of $70.22 and a twelve month high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. Equities analysts expect that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a boost from Preferred Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 31.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PFBC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Preferred Bank Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.