33,342 Shares in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 33,342 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cathay General Bancorp by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,861,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $136,236,000 after buying an additional 102,724 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,519,442 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,341,000 after purchasing an additional 85,963 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,471,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,037,000 after purchasing an additional 72,532 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,116,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,153,000 after purchasing an additional 31,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $36,231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $42.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.99. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $34.42 and a 12 month high of $55.29.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $187.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.17 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.60.

Cathay General Bancorp Profile

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.