Legal & General Group Plc Has $6.27 Million Stock Position in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,335 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,391 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $6,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NBTB. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in NBT Bancorp by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in NBT Bancorp by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in NBT Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Heidi M. Hoeller acquired 678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $48.45 per share, for a total transaction of $32,849.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $311,872.65. This trade represents a 11.77 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total transaction of $242,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. The trade was a 16.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on NBTB. Stephens raised NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.50.

NBT Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NBT Bancorp stock opened at $39.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.47 and a 1-year high of $52.44.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 9.39%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. NBT Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

NBT Bancorp Company Profile

NBT Bancorp Inc, a financial holding company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management services. Its deposit products include demand deposit, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises indirect and direct consumer, home equity, mortgages, business banking loans, and commercial loans; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, agricultural, and commercial construction loans; and residential real estate loans.