Short Interest in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Decreases By 27.8%

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,200 shares, a decline of 27.8% from the January 31st total of 36,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Oak Valley Bancorp

In other Oak Valley Bancorp news, Director Gary Strong bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.17 per share, for a total transaction of $27,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $321,747.14. The trade was a 9.22 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. bought 2,393 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $59,825.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 150,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,750,650. This trade represents a 1.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 9,924 shares of company stock worth $256,577. Corporate insiders own 19.26% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oak Valley Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 122.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 8,471 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,128 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,769,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 123.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 155,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,133,000 after buying an additional 3,646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.86% of the company's stock.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

OVLY traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $25.40. 5,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,749. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.01 and a 200-day moving average of $27.53. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 12-month low of $23.00 and a 12-month high of $32.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.32 million, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.33.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 28.03%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Oak Valley Bancorp's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Oak Valley Bancorp's payout ratio is 19.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Oak Valley Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Oak Valley Bancorp Company Profile

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.