Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,196 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.31% of Preferred Bank worth $16,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFBC. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 14,387 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Preferred Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $916,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Preferred Bank by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 10,237 shares of the bank’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 4,875 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Preferred Bank by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 199,628 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,244,000 after purchasing an additional 61,655 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Preferred Bank during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PFBC shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Preferred Bank from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

PFBC stock opened at $76.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.66. 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 market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.71. Preferred Bank has a fifty-two week low of $70.99 and a fifty-two week high of $99.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.17). Preferred Bank had a net margin of 25.00% and a return on equity of 17.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 9.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.15%.

About Preferred Bank

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.