Trexquant Investment LP Buys Shares of 7,069 Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,069 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 360,025 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,105,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA raised its position in Preferred Bank by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 8,835 shares of the bank's stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 189,196 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 14,387 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $916,000. 72.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $80.82. The company had a trading volume of 24,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,875. The firm has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.71. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $71.29 and a one year high of $99.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.59.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 25.00%. On average, analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted 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.

About Preferred Bank

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.