Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.96, but opened at $17.36. Fulton Financial shares last traded at $17.7740, with a volume of 517,891 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Fulton Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.70.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 8th. The bank reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 19.01% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $236.96 million for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 37.70%.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In other Fulton Financial news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.28, for a total transaction of $96,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 90,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,744,396.56. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,813,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,626,858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,495 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Fulton Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $22,069,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 2,825.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,021,992 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,040,000 after acquiring an additional 987,057 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,263,000. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fulton Financial Company Profile

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.