Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 188,795 Shares of Towne Bank $TOWN

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its position in Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) by 44.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 237,866 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 188,795 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Towne Bank were worth $8,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TOWN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Towne Bank by 32.6% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Towne Bank by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Towne Bank by 137.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Towne Bank by 2,332.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,624 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Towne Bank by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,383 shares of the bank’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,861 shares during the last quarter. 55.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TOWN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Towne Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Hovde Group raised their target price on Towne Bank from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.67.

Towne Bank Stock Performance

Shares of TOWN opened at $35.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.96 and a 200-day moving average of $34.54. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.87. Towne Bank has a one year low of $29.43 and a one year high of $38.28.

Towne Bank (NASDAQ:TOWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $207.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.18 million. Towne Bank had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 16.49%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Towne Bank will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Towne Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Towne Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 46.96%.

About Towne Bank

TowneBank provides retail and commercial banking services for individuals, commercial enterprises, and professionals. The company operates through three segments: Banking, Realty, and Insurance. It accepts various deposits, including demand deposits, savings accounts, money rate savings, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.