Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 7,316 Shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 131,101 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,316 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $6,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $87,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 42.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. 58.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NBTB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

NBTB opened at $42.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.88. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.48. 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 $32.93 and a 1-year high of $52.44.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. This represents a 16.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Heidi M. Hoeller purchased 678 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $48.45 per share, with a total value of $32,849.10. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,872.65. This trade represents a 11.77 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About NBT Bancorp

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.