Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James S. Abernethy Sells 500 Shares of Stock

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James S. Abernethy sold 500 shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.12, for a total value of $14,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 72,776 shares in the company, valued at $2,046,461.12. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBK opened at $27.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.41. The company has a market cap of $149.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.60. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.74 and a 12 month high of $33.31.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 15.08%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s payout ratio is 26.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 606.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 426,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,340,000 after purchasing an additional 366,459 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 203.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 61,243 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 41,069 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 39,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,765 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. 43.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Company Profile

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards.