Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 28,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Unity Bancorp by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 310,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,561,000 after purchasing an additional 18,660 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 79.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 88,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 39,033 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Unity Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $845,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Unity Bancorp by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 152,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP James Joseph Donovan sold 1,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $52,790.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,975 shares in the company, valued at $243,178. This trade represents a 17.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vincent Geraci sold 1,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $92,035.02. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,415.84. This represents a 17.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,224 shares of company stock worth $199,785. Company insiders own 29.68% of the company’s stock.

Unity Bancorp Stock Up 3.0 %

Unity Bancorp stock opened at $43.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.88. Unity Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve month high of $51.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Unity Bancorp (NASDAQ:UNTY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.01. Unity Bancorp had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm had revenue of $29.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.81 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Unity Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Unity Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Unity Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Unity Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 13.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on UNTY shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Unity Bancorp from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Unity Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Unity Bancorp Company Profile

Unity Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Unity Bank that provides range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium sized businesses, and professional communities. It offers personal and business checking accounts, time deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as noninterest and interest-bearing demand deposits.