Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 31,734 Shares of Preferred Bank $PFBC

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 837,897 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,734 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.81% of Preferred Bank worth $79,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Preferred Bank by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after acquiring an additional 45,946 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 105,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 288.4% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 74,636 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,746,000 after purchasing an additional 55,418 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 73,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,642,000 after purchasing an additional 15,193 shares during the period. Finally, Maltese Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Preferred Bank by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 72,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 72.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Preferred Bank in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Brean Capital cut Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Stephens reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Preferred Bank in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ PFBC opened at $91.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.56. Preferred Bank has a one year low of $79.60 and a one year high of $103.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $91.91 and its 200-day moving average is $92.78.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.05. Preferred Bank had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 26.49%.The company had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.76 million. Equities research analysts predict that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.96%.

Preferred Bank Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.