Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,672 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PEBO. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp by 153.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 352,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,606,000 after purchasing an additional 213,488 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,122,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 316.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,855,000 after acquiring an additional 46,845 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp by 138.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 36,684 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 262.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 29,479 shares during the period. 60.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Peoples Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Peoples Bancorp stock opened at $29.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.10 and a 12 month high of $37.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.75.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.01. Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 18.90% and a return on equity of 11.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of Peoples Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $31,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $858,819.72. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,000 shares of company stock worth $94,050. Insiders own 3.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Peoples Bancorp

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.