American Century Companies Inc. Sells 155,003 Shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,546,719 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 155,003 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.03% of SouthState worth $153,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SSB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,498,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,703,000 after purchasing an additional 139,602 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in SouthState by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 265,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,809,000 after buying an additional 103,756 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in SouthState by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,999,000 after buying an additional 72,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC boosted its stake in SouthState by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 185,250 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,003,000 after buying an additional 64,013 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Price Performance

SouthState stock opened at $92.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.54. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $70.68 and a 52 week high of $114.27.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $707,241.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 3,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $93.60 per share, for a total transaction of $290,160.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,442,514.40. This trade represents a 9.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SSB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.44.

SouthState Profile

SouthState Corporation operates as the bank holding company for SouthState Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking services and products to individuals and companies. It offers checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits, as well as bond accounting, asset/liability consulting related activities, and other clearing and corporate checking account services.