Royce & Associates LP Trims Holdings in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 68.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,348 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 27,014 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 193.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the third quarter worth about $33,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 16,041.2% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,454 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FULT opened at $18.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $13.87 and a 12 month high of $22.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.76.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.42 EPS. Analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is currently 45.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In other news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value of $275,632.18. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,580.58. The trade was a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

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.