Legato Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 7,245 Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY)

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 7,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 123.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 122.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 8,471 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 155,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,646 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $295,000. 30.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Oak Valley Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gary Strong purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.17 per share, for a total transaction of $27,170.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,747.14. This trade represents a 9.22 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. purchased 2,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $59,825.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,750,650. This trade represents a 1.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,774 shares of company stock valued at $252,527 in the last ninety days. 19.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oak Valley Bancorp Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Oak Valley Bancorp stock opened at $28.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.67 million, a PE ratio of 9.37 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.67 and its 200 day moving average is $27.43. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.91 and a 1 year high of $32.24.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 14.28%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Oak Valley Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Profile

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.