Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy Sells 600 Shares of Stock

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.20, for a total transaction of $24,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 68,626 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,765.20. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PEBK opened at $40.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.87 million, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.49 and its 200-day moving average is $36.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.81 and a 1 year high of $42.63.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $21.57 million for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a net margin of 17.22% and a return on equity of 13.07%.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio is 23.14%.

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 167,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 7,404 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 154,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,594,000 after purchasing an additional 78,921 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,442 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,962,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 49,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 37,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 9,407 shares in the last quarter. 43.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Hickory, North Carolina, that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Peoples Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services tailored to individuals, small businesses, and municipal clients in the western region of North Carolina.

Through its community banking network, Peoples Bancorp offers deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.