Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 99,477 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,087,700 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 99,477 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $30,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,241 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BHLB shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of BHLB opened at $23.53 on Monday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.67 and its 200 day moving average is $28.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.58.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Sell-side analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company Profile

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Berkshire Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company provides various deposit accounts, including demand deposit, interest-bearing checking, regular savings, money market savings, time certificates of deposit, and retirement deposit accounts.