Legato Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY)

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000. Legato Capital Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Oak Valley Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OVLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 123.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $295,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $327,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 122.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 8,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 38,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oak Valley Bancorp

In other Oak Valley Bancorp news, Director Gary Strong acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.17 per share, for a total transaction of $27,170.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $321,747.14. This trade represents a 9.22 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. acquired 2,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $59,825.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 150,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,750,650. This represents a 1.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 9,774 shares of company stock worth $252,527. 19.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ OVLY opened at $28.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.67 and a 200-day moving average of $27.43. The stock has a market cap of $236.67 million, a PE ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.33. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.91 and a 52-week high of $32.24.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. Oak Valley Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Oak Valley Bancorp Company Profile

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.