Murray Hamilton Edwards Purchases 1,000 Shares of First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) Stock

First Financial Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIN) Director Murray Hamilton Edwards bought 1,000 shares of First Financial Bankshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.18 per share, for a total transaction of $33,180.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 44,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,480,956.12. The trade was a 2.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Financial Bankshares Price Performance

FFIN opened at $33.39 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.64. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.11 and a fifty-two week high of $38.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.83.

First Financial Bankshares (NASDAQ:FFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. First Financial Bankshares had a net margin of 31.00% and a return on equity of 14.20%. The company had revenue of $166.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from First Financial Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. First Financial Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 47.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bankshares by 3,204.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 417,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,462,000 after acquiring an additional 404,566 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 5,474.7% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 16,424 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 3,042,660.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 21,512,315 shares of the bank’s stock worth $642,573,000 after buying an additional 21,511,608 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in First Financial Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $3,515,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Bankshares by 283.7% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 112,781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,369,000 after buying an additional 83,385 shares during the last quarter. 69.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Financial Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of First Financial Bankshares from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.33.

First Financial Bankshares Company Profile

First Financial Bankshares, Inc is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its primary subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company offers a full suite of banking products and services to individual, small business and commercial clients. With roots dating back to 1863, First Financial has cultivated a strong community banking heritage, combining personalized service with modern financial solutions.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, and wealth management.