Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director Sells $14,060.00 in Stock

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James S. Abernethy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,046,461.12. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock opened at $27.41 on Monday. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.74 and a 1-year high of $33.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $149.55 million, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.44.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s payout ratio is 26.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 buying an additional 366,459 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC raised its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 203.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 61,243 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 41,069 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,510 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 39,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.83% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

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.