Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 875 Shares of Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Pathward Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASH) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,068 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 875 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Pathward Financial were worth $813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pathward Financial by 302.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 551 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pathward Financial by 726.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 587 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Pathward Financial by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,417 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Pathward Financial in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, AXA S.A. purchased a new position in Pathward Financial during the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Pathward Financial from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Pathward Financial

In other news, CEO Brett L. Pharr sold 10,365 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $809,195.55. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,445,382.50. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kendall E. Stork sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.33, for a total value of $317,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $488,117.49. The trade was a 39.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,882 shares of company stock worth $1,403,123. Insiders own 1.23% of the company’s stock.

Pathward Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:CASH opened at $80.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.12. Pathward Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.97 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $3.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $262.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.30 million. Pathward Financial had a return on equity of 22.02% and a net margin of 21.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Pathward Financial, Inc. will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Pathward Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Pathward Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Pathward Financial Company Profile

Pathward Financial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Pathward, National Association that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Corporate Services/Other. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, and money market savings accounts.