12,527 Shares in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 12,527 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,985 shares of the bank’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 684,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,082,000 after buying an additional 4,787 shares during the last quarter. 66.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SASR opened at $28.68 on Thursday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.52 and a 52-week high of $39.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.73 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 302.22%.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Profile

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products.