AlphaQuest LLC Sells 5,475 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 67.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,662 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,475 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Preferred Bank were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi grew its position in Preferred Bank by 191.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,993 shares of the bank's stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 434,590 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,540,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth approximately $843,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $674,000. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PFBC shares. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

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Preferred Bank Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Preferred Bank stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $84.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 74,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,046. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $70.83 and a 52-week high of $99.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $87.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.61. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.73 and a beta of 0.93.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Preferred Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Preferred Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Preferred Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.15%.

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.