Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 79.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 420,636 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 186,215 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $7,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Fulton Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,544,159 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,166,000 after acquiring an additional 444,219 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 511.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,256,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723,170 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 18.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,022,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,323,000 after purchasing an additional 474,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 worth $43,164,000 after buying an additional 567,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,358,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,752,000 after buying an additional 31,754 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens raised Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FULT stock opened at $19.67 on Thursday. Fulton Financial Co. has a one year low of $13.87 and a one year high of $22.49. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $487.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.00 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is currently 43.04%.

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.