Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 26,186 Shares of UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 308,544 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 26,186 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in UMB Financial were worth $34,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of UMBF. USA Financial Formulas increased its position in shares of UMB Financial by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 483 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of UMB Financial in the third quarter valued at $83,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in UMB Financial during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in UMB Financial during the fourth quarter worth $103,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in UMB Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $117,000. Institutional investors own 87.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other UMB Financial news, CEO J Mariner Kemper sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.61, for a total transaction of $380,135.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 334,347 shares in the company, valued at $36,313,427.67. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin Charles Gallagher sold 527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.13, for a total transaction of $60,146.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,484,831.30. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UMB Financial from $156.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of UMB Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on UMB Financial from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of UMB Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised UMB Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UMB Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.71.

UMB Financial Stock Performance

UMBF opened at $86.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.18. UMB Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $76.00 and a 1 year high of $129.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.79.

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.24. UMB Financial had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 13.73%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that UMB Financial Co. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

UMB Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. UMB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.80%.

About UMB Financial

UMB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company that provides banking services and asset servicing in the United States and internationally. The Commercial Banking segment provides commercial loans and credit card; commercial real estate financing; letters of credit; loan syndication, and consultative service; various business solutions including asset-based lending, mezzanine debt, and minority equity investment; and treasury management service, such as depository service, account reconciliation, cash management tool, accounts payable and receivable solution, electronic fund transfer and automated payment, controlled disbursement, lockbox service, and remote deposit capture service.