Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,583 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,536 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the third quarter worth $33,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Fulton Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Fulton Financial by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,487 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT opened at $19.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.50. 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.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value 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 trade represents a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.