Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 12,345 Preferred Bank $PFBC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,345 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,166,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Preferred Bank by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 494,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,727,000 after purchasing an additional 16,348 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in Preferred Bank by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 356,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,623,000 after purchasing an additional 18,309 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Preferred Bank by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 337,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,534,000 after acquiring an additional 45,946 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Preferred Bank by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 206,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,511,000 after buying an additional 33,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Preferred Bank by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 199,419 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,831,000 after acquiring an additional 33,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Preferred Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Brean Capital lowered Preferred Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Preferred Bank in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Preferred Bank from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

Preferred Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ PFBC opened at $99.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.58. Preferred Bank has a 52-week low of $80.10 and a 52-week high of $103.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 0.56.

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $69.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.76 million. Preferred Bank had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 17.52%. Analysts anticipate that Preferred Bank will post 10.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Preferred Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. Preferred Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.96%.

Preferred Bank Profile

Preferred Bank (NASDAQ: PFBC) is a California-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. The institution offers a full range of banking products and services to businesses and individuals, with a particular emphasis on commercial real estate lending, business banking, treasury management and deposit accounts. Preferred Bank operates through branch offices across Southern California and national loan production offices in major U.S. markets.

The bank’s core lending portfolio focuses on commercial real estate acquisition, development and investment properties.