Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,208,859 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.30% of Community Bank System worth $70,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CBU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 8.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,770,648 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,588,000 after buying an additional 142,909 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 691,879 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,664,000 after purchasing an additional 44,137 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,991 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,919,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 164.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,167 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,064,000 after purchasing an additional 132,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 151.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,227 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,388,000 after purchasing an additional 76,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James upgraded 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler began 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 objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.25.

Community Bank System Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE CBU opened at $62.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $65.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.51. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.50 and a 12 month high of $73.39.

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

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $287,794.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at $425,661.30. This represents a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Community Bank System

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.