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Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Fulton Financial logo with Finance background

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.50, but opened at $21.35. Fulton Financial shares last traded at $20.94, with a volume of 80,691 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FULT. Stephens upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on FULT

Fulton Financial Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $19.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $487.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.00 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Fulton Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fulton Financial

In other Fulton Financial news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This trade represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Fulton Financial by 21.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,840 shares of the bank's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Fulton Financial by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 91,400 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 10,300 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Fulton Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Fulton Financial by 28.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,542,068 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,164,000 after acquiring an additional 567,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,003,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company's stock.

About Fulton Financial

(Get Free Report)

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.

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