EMC Capital Management Raises Stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

EMC Capital Management grew its position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Free Report) by 151.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,607 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 13,607 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management's holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Fulton Financial during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Fulton Financial by 28.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,517 shares of the bank's stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 3,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective 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 raised shares of Fulton Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,299,817.36. This trade represents a 13.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value of $275,632.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 63,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,317,580.58. This represents a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.77. 818,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,597,125. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.79. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial Co. has a one year low of $13.87 and a one year 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Fulton Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.