Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 16,759 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,125 shares of the bank's stock after selling 16,759 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,333,000 after acquiring an additional 34,977 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank's stock worth $292,781,000 after acquiring an additional 72,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank's stock worth $117,154,000 after acquiring an additional 39,655 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,141 shares in the company, valued at $277,633.72. This trade represents a 40.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ FFBC traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.65. 1,677,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 415,930. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $20.59 and a 12 month high of $31.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.