Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 5,950 Shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 882,276 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,950 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.11% of Preferred Bank worth $76,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Preferred Bank by 110.7% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 550 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 217.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 562 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 914 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors own 72.77% of the company's stock.

Preferred Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFBC traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.73. The stock had a trading volume of 7,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,537. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.71. Preferred Bank has a 52 week low of $70.99 and a 52 week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Preferred Bank's payout ratio is 31.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PFBC. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Preferred Bank Company Profile

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts.