Barclays PLC Purchases 54,554 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,647 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 54,554 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.21% of Community Bank System worth $6,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Citizens & Northern Corp bought a new position in Community Bank System during the 2nd quarter worth about $398,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 494.7% during the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 30,552 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 25,415 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 56.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,582 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 8,113 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 9.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 96,742 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,618,000 after buying an additional 8,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Community Bank System by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 80,008 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,777,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $287,794.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $425,661.30. This trade represents a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBU has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised shares of Community Bank System from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Community Bank System presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.25.

Community Bank System Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of Community Bank System stock traded up $1.52 on Friday, reaching $62.64. 1,205,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 280,257. Community Bank System, Inc. has a one year low of $41.50 and a one year high of $73.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.44 and a 200 day moving average of $58.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 0.65.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $188.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.35 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System's payout ratio is currently 57.32%.

Community Bank System Profile

Community Bank System, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits.