Insider Selling: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director Sells $22,896.00 in Stock

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy sold 600 shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.16, for a total value of $22,896.00. Following the sale, the director owned 71,926 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,696.16. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ PEBK opened at $38.21 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.46. The company has a market capitalization of $208.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.34. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.74 and a 12 month high of $40.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $24.99 million during the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 17.30%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEBK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEBK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 28.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 116.7% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 0.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,401 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,157,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Maltese Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 49,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,684 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 43.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Hickory, North Carolina, that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Peoples Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and municipal clients in the western region of North Carolina.

Through its community banking network, Peoples Bancorp offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.