Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 378,582 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 69,330 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.21% of Fulton Financial worth $7,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 193.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,294 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Fulton Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Fulton Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,455 shares of the bank's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 16,041.2% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,454 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fulton Financial news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 63,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,317,580.58. This represents a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ FULT traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $18.26. The stock had a trading volume of 839,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,405,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $19.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.43. Fulton Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $13.87 and a 12-month high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. 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.