German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) Shares Sold by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in German American Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GABC) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,193,622 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 58,494 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 4.02% of German American Bancorp worth $48,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GABC. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in German American Bancorp by 821.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 912 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in German American Bancorp by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in German American Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in German American Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of German American Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $235,000. 46.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Diane B. Medley acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.21 per share, with a total value of $39,210.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,370 shares in the company, valued at $210,557.70. The trade was a 22.88 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,112 shares of company stock valued at $43,556. Insiders own 6.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GABC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of German American Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on German American Bancorp from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, German American Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.40.

German American Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GABC opened at $35.62 on Friday. German American Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.06 and a 1-year high of $47.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.09. German American Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 23.69%. On average, equities analysts expect that German American Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

German American Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from German American Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. German American Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 41.13%.

German American Bancorp Profile

German American Bancorp, Inc operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market.