Granite Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC)

Granite Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,432 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,267 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of First Republic Bank worth $25,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FRC. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of First Republic Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $128,500,000. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 510,000 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Republic Bank by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,318,306 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,375,954,000 after acquiring an additional 397,082 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of First Republic Bank by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,638,860 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,440,000 after acquiring an additional 338,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of First Republic Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $52,164,000. 94.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of NYSE:FRC traded down $4.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $144.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,592,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,981. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $160.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.97. 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 52 week low of $142.51 and a 52 week high of $222.86. The company has a market capitalization of $26.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 13th. The bank reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Republic Bank will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 28th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 27th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from First Republic Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. First Republic Bank’s payout ratio is presently 13.71%.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRC shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Republic Bank from $205.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of First Republic Bank from $209.00 to $178.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 4th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of First Republic Bank from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $187.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Republic Bank from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of First Republic Bank from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $194.00 in a report on Friday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.29.

About First Republic Bank (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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