Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys New Stake in First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC)

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 17,977 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,712,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in First Republic Bank by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Omsesidigt now owns 4,321,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $893,820,000 after buying an additional 510,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Republic Bank by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,394,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $699,392,000 after buying an additional 207,877 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Republic Bank by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,922,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,433,000 after buying an additional 130,514 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in First Republic Bank by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,175,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $449,161,000 after buying an additional 8,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in First Republic Bank by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,161,452 shares of the bank’s stock worth $446,362,000 after buying an additional 161,543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.41% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE:FRC traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $144.90. 1,111,836 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,099,110. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.94. First Republic Bank has a 12 month low of $136.31 and a 12 month high of $222.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.77 and a 200-day moving average of $180.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 13th. The bank reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.10. First Republic Bank had a net margin of 27.93% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. First Republic Bank’s quarterly revenue was up 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that First Republic Bank will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 28th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from First Republic Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. First Republic Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 13.71%.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of First Republic Bank from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Republic Bank in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of First Republic Bank from $209.00 to $178.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of First Republic Bank from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of First Republic Bank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $188.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Friday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.46.

First Republic Bank Profile (Get Rating)

First Republic Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides private banking, private business banking, and private wealth management services to clients in metropolitan areas in the United States. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management. The company accepts deposit products, such as noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, money market checking accounts, money market savings accounts, and passbook accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.

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