Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,628 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 61,655 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.38% of Preferred Bank worth $17,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PFBC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Preferred Bank by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Preferred Bank during the third quarter valued at $76,000. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Preferred Bank Trading Down 8.0 %

Shares of PFBC stock traded down $6.72 on Thursday, reaching $77.43. 169,067 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 80,120. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $86.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $70.99 and a 52 week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is currently 31.15%.

Preferred Bank Company 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.