Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 26,956 Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation $FULT

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,180 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 26,956 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 373.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the period. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Fulton Financial during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Fulton Financial in the first quarter valued at about $152,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the second quarter worth about $186,000. Finally, Paragon Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the second quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FULT. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of 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 raised Fulton Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.90.

Insider Activity at Fulton Financial

In related news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 85,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,075.35. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of Fulton Financial stock opened at $20.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.85. Fulton Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $14.32 and a 12-month high of $21.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $336.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.80 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 20.68%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Analysts predict that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.79%.

Fulton Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fulton Financial

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.