Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,672 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 69,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 46,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,260 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 27,291 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 10,415 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Peoples Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,122,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,304 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Peoples Bancorp news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.83, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,101.38. This represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050. Insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Down 1.6 %

PEBO stock opened at $29.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.98. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.10 and a 52-week high of $37.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 18.90%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Peoples Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $37.50 target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Peoples Bancorp from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.90.

Peoples Bancorp Profile

Peoples Bancorp Inc operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts.