WBI Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

WBI Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 18.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,413 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Fulton Financial by 78.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 83,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 36,663 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the first quarter valued at $185,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 198,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after buying an additional 50,842 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 948,319 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,069,000 after buying an additional 92,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FULT. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.50 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Fulton Financial from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Fulton Financial from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fulton Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.40.

Fulton Financial Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ FULT traded up $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,158,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,405,735. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.68 and its 200-day moving average is $16.00. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Fulton Financial Co. has a one year low of $11.63 and a one year high of $17.68.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 18.31%. The business had revenue of $230.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 42.24%.

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.