Fulton Financial Corporation $FULT Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) by 26.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,646 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 34,498 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $1,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 42.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,626,858 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,495 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,587,133 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,760,000 after purchasing an additional 50,122 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,859,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,579,000 after purchasing an additional 260,016 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fulton Financial in the second quarter valued at about $37,813,000. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 1.6% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,732,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,284,000 after purchasing an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of FULT opened at $20.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.85. Fulton Financial Corporation has a one year low of $14.32 and a one year high of $21.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.78.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $264.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.51 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 19.01%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is presently 39.79%.

Fulton Financial declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FULT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.90.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In related news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 85,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,075.35. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fulton Financial Profile

Fulton Financial Corporation, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker FULT, is the financial holding company for Fulton Bank, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company delivers a broad range of banking and financial services through its subsidiary, Fulton Bank, targeting both individual and corporate clients. Fulton Financial’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, treasury management, and specialized banking services designed to support personal wealth goals and business growth initiatives.

Through Fulton Bank, the company provides retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, and home equity products.