Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 6,500 Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,513 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 26.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 33,554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 7,039 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 7.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 32,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 2,303 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 3,345 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 5.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 237,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 12,350 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 272.2% in the third quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 861,691 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,622,000 after buying an additional 630,152 shares during the period. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FULT opened at $19.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.46. Fulton Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $13.87 and a twelve month high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 45.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total transaction of $275,632.18. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,317,580.58. This represents a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,299,817.36. This trade represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on FULT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.64.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.