Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,755 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 683,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,632,000 after buying an additional 75,693 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown bought a new stake in NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,495 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,887 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on NBTB shares. Stephens upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

NBTB opened at $44.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.33 and its 200 day moving average is $47.22. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.79 and a 12-month high of $52.44.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.39% and a net margin of 17.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NBT Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Wiles sold 500 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.31, for a total transaction of $25,655.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,355.79. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total transaction of $242,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. The trade was a 16.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,694 shares of company stock worth $277,935. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

NBT Bancorp Profile

NBT Bancorp Inc, a financial holding company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management services. Its deposit products include demand deposit, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises indirect and direct consumer, home equity, mortgages, business banking loans, and commercial loans; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, agricultural, and commercial construction loans; and residential real estate loans.