Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its position in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,864 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,547 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $1,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBU. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Community Bank System by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Community Bank System by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Invesco LLC grew its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the bank’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 50,322 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CBU. Raymond James raised shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Community Bank System in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

Shares of CBU opened at $62.26 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Community Bank System, Inc. has a one year low of $41.50 and a one year high of $73.39.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $196.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total value of $74,953.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,443.22. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

About Community Bank System

Community Bank System, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits.