First Republic Bank Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:FRC)

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 50,819 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 3,129% compared to the average daily volume of 1,574 call options.

First Republic Bank Stock Performance

Shares of FRC opened at $39.63 on Wednesday. First Republic Bank has a one year low of $17.53 and a one year high of $174.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 1.15.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The bank reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. First Republic Bank had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 24.66%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that First Republic Bank will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Republic Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 26th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 25th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. First Republic Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FRC. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of First Republic Bank from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of First Republic Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised First Republic Bank to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Maxim Group decreased their price objective on First Republic Bank from $200.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on First Republic Bank to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Republic Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Republic Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRC. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of First Republic Bank by 9.1% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,724,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $248,628,000 after acquiring an additional 143,905 shares during the last quarter. Echo Street Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Republic Bank in the third quarter worth about $236,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Republic Bank by 18.1% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Republic Bank by 14.5% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 116,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,149,000 after acquiring an additional 14,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in First Republic Bank by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,494 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,367 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.24% of the company’s stock.

First Republic Bank Company Profile

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First Republic Bank engages in the provision of private banking, business banking, real estate lending, and wealth management, including trust and custody services. It operates through the Commercial Banking and Wealth Management segments. The Commercial Banking segment represents most of the operations, including real estate secured lending, retail deposit gathering, private banking activities, mortgage sales and servicing, and managing capital, liquidity, and interest rate risk.