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

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) Director James Abernethy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.93, for a total transaction of $26,358.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,506,799. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEBK opened at $44.03 on Friday. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.33 and a 52-week high of $45.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.82 and a 200 day moving average of $41.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $240.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.30.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The bank reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $23.38 million during the quarter.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 167,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,551,000 after buying an additional 7,404 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 33.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 37,614 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,473,000 after buying an additional 9,407 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,324 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina in the 1st quarter worth $369,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina by 19.9% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares during the period. 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 (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc is the bank holding company for Peoples Bank, a community banking institution headquartered in Newton, North Carolina. Through its banking subsidiary, the company provides financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Peoples Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with consumer, residential mortgage, commercial and real estate lending.