Emerald Advisers LLC Sells 136,639 Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Emerald Advisers LLC lessened its stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,170,920 shares of the bank's stock after selling 136,639 shares during the quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC owned 0.64% of Fulton Financial worth $22,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 567,790 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,007,000 after buying an additional 34,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,377,428 shares of the bank's stock worth $45,837,000 after acquiring an additional 19,329 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 130.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $10,104,000 after acquiring an additional 315,435 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 151.2% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 22,607 shares of the bank's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 13,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 1,255.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 20,381 shares of the bank's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 18,877 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

FULT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Fulton Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens upgraded Fulton Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Hovde Group increased their target price on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total transaction of $275,632.18. Following the sale, the president now owns 63,682 shares in the company, valued at $1,317,580.58. This trade represents a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $18.26. 839,987 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,407,658. Fulton Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $13.87 and a 52 week high of $22.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.76. The company's 50 day moving average price is $19.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.86%.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.