Fisher Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,582,036 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 673,559 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.42% of Fulton Financial worth $49,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the third quarter valued at $33,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fulton Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,455 shares of the bank's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank's stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,517 shares of the bank's stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FULT. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report 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. StockNews.com raised Fulton Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.64.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FULT stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.66. 920,475 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,296,497. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.50. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.79. Fulton Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $13.87 and a 12-month high of $22.49. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Fulton Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 63,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,317,580.58. This trade represents a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

Fulton Financial Profile

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.