Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) Director Andrew Briggs Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FMAO) Director Andrew Briggs sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total value of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 234,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,334,340.10. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Price Performance

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp stock opened at $27.56 on Thursday. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $22.59 and a one year high of $29.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.50 million, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.82.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 18.54%.The firm had revenue of $32.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Inc. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, April 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Farmers & Merchants Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 682,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,072,000 after purchasing an additional 4,979 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 1,659.8% during the fourth quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 485,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,991,000 after purchasing an additional 457,500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 301,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Align Financial LLC bought a new stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $6,844,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Farmers & Merchants Bancorp by 5.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 226,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 23.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FMAO. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from $30.00 to $28.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Farmers & Merchants Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.50 price objective (up from $28.00) on shares of Farmers & Merchants Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.50.

About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMAO) is the bank holding company for Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California, a community-focused institution headquartered in Los Banos, California. The bank traces its roots to 1916 and has grown to serve individuals, businesses and agricultural enterprises throughout the western San Joaquin Valley. Operating with a commitment to local decision-making, the company emphasizes personalized service and close ties to the communities in which it operates.

Through its banking subsidiary, Farmers & Merchants offers a comprehensive suite of financial products and services, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, online and mobile banking platforms, and merchant services.