Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Short Interest Update

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,200 shares, a decline of 27.8% from the January 31st total of 36,300 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Oak Valley Bancorp

In other news, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. acquired 2,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $59,825.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 150,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,750,650. This represents a 1.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gary Strong acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.17 per share, for a total transaction of $27,170.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,842 shares in the company, valued at $321,747.14. This trade represents a 9.22 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,924 shares of company stock worth $256,577. 19.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oak Valley Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,769,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 155,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,133,000 after buying an additional 3,646 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 108,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,188,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,295,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Oak Valley Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,726,000. 30.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oak Valley Bancorp Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OVLY traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $25.74. 10,137 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,220. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.91 and a 1-year high of $32.24. The firm has a market cap of $215.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.13 and a 200-day moving average of $27.54.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 14.28%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. Oak Valley Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Oak Valley Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.