Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,135 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,848 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Cathay General Bancorp were worth $2,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 27.1% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 114,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 24,492 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 10,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 63.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,183 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,194,000 after buying an additional 43,285 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 27.0% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,846 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 7.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 160,241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,044,000 after acquiring an additional 11,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Cathay General Bancorp stock opened at $48.33 on Monday. Cathay General Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.88 and a 12 month high of $55.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.41.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $359.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.70 million. Cathay General Bancorp had a net margin of 20.57% and a return on equity of 11.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cathay General Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cathay General Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CATY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Cathay General Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $45.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Cathay General Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cathay General Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Peter Wu sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.87, for a total value of $2,114,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 295,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,609,973.24. The trade was a 11.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas M. Lo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.00, for a total value of $42,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,873. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,500,047 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

About Cathay General Bancorp

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.