Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Shares Sold by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 603 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. First National Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 5.2% during the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,050 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 66.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares in the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SASR opened at $28.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.52. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.00 and a beta of 0.96.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 302.22%.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products.