Exploring The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're likely looking at The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) because you want to know who was holding a regional bank stock that was trading at a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.41x right before it vanished, but here's the quick math: the company is defunct as of June 2, 2025, following its acquisition by ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc.. So, who were the final buyers? It was a classic institutional play, with institutional ownership sitting at 48.33% in 2025, attracted by the consistent income-the company declared a $0.21 per share cash dividend in Q1 2025-and the merger arbitrage opportunity, even as the bank reported Q1 2025 GAAP EPS of only $0.17. Did the smart money see a deep value play in a bank with $4,076 million in total assets, or were they simply betting on the guaranteed exit price of the deal? The investor profile shifted from a pure regional bank dividend play to a merger-security bet, and that's defintely where the action was.

Who Invests in The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) and Why?

The investor profile for The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) in 2025 was dominated by a clear, near-term catalyst: the pending acquisition by ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc., which closed on June 2, 2025. This event, coupled with a high dividend yield, shifted the entire investor base from long-term value holders to those focused on income and merger arbitrage (buying stock to profit from the announced acquisition price).

Honestly, the biggest driver for anyone holding FLIC stock in the first half of 2025 was the announced deal, not the standalone bank operations. The company's last traded market capitalization was approximately $269.22 million as of November 2025, a micro-cap valuation that typically attracts a very specific set of buyers.

Key Investor Types and Their Holdings

The ownership structure of The First of Long Island Corporation was a classic mix for a regional bank, but with a significant retail presence. While institutional investors held a large block, individual and public investors collectively owned the majority of the shares. This is defintely a key point, as retail investors often drive the daily volatility in smaller-cap stocks.

Based on filings leading up to the merger, here is a breakdown of the investor base:

• Institutional Investors: Entities like mutual funds, pension funds, and asset managers held a substantial portion, with institutional ownership figures cited around 48.33% just before the acquisition.
• Retail and Individual Investors: This group, combined with other public entities, controlled over half of the shares, around 60.19%, making them a powerful voting bloc in the merger approval process.
• Insiders: Company executives and board members held a smaller, but still meaningful, stake of approximately 4.95%.

Major institutional players included giants like BlackRock, Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc., who typically hold shares via index funds or quantitative strategies, plus specialized firms like Dimensional Fund Advisors Lp.

Investment Motivations: Dividend Income and Acquisition Premium

The motivation to buy FLIC stock was twofold in early 2025: a compelling dividend and the merger's implied value. For income investors, the pre-merger annual dividend rate of $0.84 per share, paid quarterly at $0.21 per share, translated to a very attractive dividend yield of 7.08%.

Here's the quick math: a 7.08% yield on a relatively stable regional bank stock is hard to ignore, especially when the Federal Reserve's rate path was still uncertain. But the real magnet was the merger. The First of Long Island Corporation's book value per share was $16.91 as of March 31, 2025. When a stock trades below its book value, as FLIC did, it attracts value investors who see the potential for a higher valuation, especially through an acquisition.

The merger with ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. provided a clear exit. FLIC shareholders received 0.5175 shares of ConnectOne common stock for each FLIC share. This setup allowed merger arbitrage funds to step in, buying FLIC stock to capture the small, low-risk premium between the trading price and the implied value of the ConnectOne shares they would receive upon closing. This is a classic short-term trade.

Investment Strategies: Merger Arbitrage and Long-Term Income

The dominant strategy shifted from long-term holding to short-term trading once the merger was announced. Before the announcement, the key strategy was simple: Long-Term Holding for Income. You buy a stable regional bank for its consistent dividend, which FLIC had been paying quarterly, and you hold it. The company's Q1 2025 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17 still covered the $0.21 quarterly dividend when viewed against the full year's expected earnings, though the payout ratio was high.

Post-announcement, the primary strategy was Merger Arbitrage. These funds bought FLIC to lock in the spread, knowing the deal was likely to close, which it did in June 2025. This strategy is less about the bank's fundamentals and more about the contract terms. Also, a smaller group of investors used a Value Investing approach, seeing the stock as undervalued compared to its book value of $16.91 per share, anticipating that the merger would realize that value. If you want to dive deeper into the health of the bank pre-merger, check out Breaking Down The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

A concrete next step for you is to analyze the performance of the post-merger entity, ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc., to see how the acquired assets are integrating and what the new combined dividend policy looks like.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC)

You're looking at The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) and trying to figure out who the big players are and what they're doing. Here's the direct takeaway: institutional investors, the mutual funds and ETFs, hold the majority of the company, and their recent activity was driven almost entirely by the impending merger with ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (CNOB).

As of the most recent filings (May 2025), institutions collectively hold a significant stake, representing approximately 57.37% of FLIC's total shares outstanding. This translates to a total of about 2,129,630 shares held by 143 institutional owners and shareholders. When a regional bank like FLIC has this level of institutional backing, it defintely signals a degree of credibility in the investment community, but it also means the stock is sensitive to large, coordinated moves.

The largest institutional holders are predominantly index funds and quantitative value managers. These are the firms that buy FLIC because it meets specific criteria for inclusion in a broader fund, which is a different driver than a hedge fund making a directional bet. The top shareholders as of mid-2025 include:

• iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)
• Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VTSMX)
• Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF (AVUV)
• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP
• BlackRock Fund Advisors

Recent Shifts: Who's Buying and Selling in 2025?

The institutional ownership picture for FLIC in the 2025 fiscal year was marked by a clear trend of repositioning ahead of the ConnectOne Bancorp merger, which received FDIC approval in May 2025. You saw a mix of firms either trimming their positions to manage risk or, in some cases, adding shares to capture the final merger premium.

For example, you had firms like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reducing their stake by a noticeable -16.9% as of a May 2025 filing. This kind of move is typical when a large institution de-risks a position in an acquisition target, especially as the closing date-expected around June 1, 2025-approaches. They're locking in the gain rather than waiting for the final paperwork. On the flip side, some investors saw an opportunity, with Sei Investments Co. increasing its position by +13.0%.

Here's the quick math: the merger created a final, hard deadline for the investment thesis. For those who were long-term holders, the decision was simple: accept the terms or sell. This led to some dramatic reductions in the prior quarter, like BRANDYWINE GLOBAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC removing 100.0% of its position in Q4 2024, essentially closing the book on their FLIC investment before 2025 even got into full swing.

The Institutional Hand: Impact on FLIC's Strategy and Stock

In a small-cap regional bank like FLIC, institutional investors don't just own the stock; they influence the trajectory. Holding over 50% of the shares gives them a powerful voice, especially in a major corporate action like a merger. The ultimate impact of these large investors wasn't a slow, incremental change in strategy, but the final, decisive action of selling the company.

The merger with ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc., expected to close around June 1, 2025, is the clearest evidence of their influence. This transaction fundamentally reshaped the company, resulting in a combined entity with approximately $14 billion in total assets. That kind of scale change doesn't happen without the buy-in of the major institutional holders, who are looking for a clear path to greater returns or a more liquid exit. They want to see the management team take decisive action to maximize shareholder value, and in a challenging regional banking environment, Breaking Down The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors, a merger is often the most direct route.

The stock price, which closed at $10.87 on April 21, 2025, was largely trading as a function of the merger terms, not the bank's underlying operational performance. The institutional presence ensures that the deal gets done and that the market price stays tethered to the implied value of the acquisition. Their role is to provide the necessary shareholder votes and market liquidity for the transaction to be executed smoothly. It's a textbook example of institutional investors driving a strategic exit for a smaller company.

Next step: Review your portfolio for other regional bank holdings and assess their institutional ownership profile to anticipate potential merger or acquisition activity.

Key Investors and Their Impact on The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC)

The investor profile for The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) is defintely a story with a clear end-date: the company's acquisition by ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. on June 2, 2025. Before this merger, the stock was heavily influenced by large institutional investors, who collectively owned a significant portion of the company-often cited around 57.37% of the shares outstanding. This level of institutional ownership means that a few major players, not just retail investors, were driving the stock's valuation and trading volume.

You need to understand who these players were, because their actions signal the underlying confidence in a regional bank like The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC). The sheer volume of shares they control gives them a powerful voice, which is what we call investor influence (the ability to sway corporate decisions or market perception). They were the ones who ultimately voted on and approved the merger.

Here's the quick math on the major institutional holders' stakes before the merger:

• BlackRock, Inc.: A perennial top holder, representing a core passive investment in the regional banking sector.
• The Vanguard Group Inc.: Another index fund giant, whose large stake is typical for a stable, dividend-paying company.
• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP: Known for its quantitative, factor-based approach, suggesting the stock met specific value or size criteria.

These firms are not activist investors in the traditional sense, but their massive passive holdings mean they are the ultimate arbiters of a major corporate action, like a merger. When they buy, it provides a floor for the stock; when they sell, the price feels it.

Recent Moves: The Merger as the Ultimate Investor Action

The most important recent move by The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) shareholders was the approval and completion of the merger with ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. The deal, which was finalized on June 2, 2025, saw FLIC shareholders receive 0.5175 shares of ConnectOne common stock for each share of The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) they owned. This single action is the final chapter of the investor profile.

Leading up to this, institutional investors were actively trading. In the 24 months before the filings, institutional investors bought a total of 2,376,849 shares, representing approximately $28.54 million in transactions. This buying activity suggests a long-term confidence in the company's value, or perhaps an attempt to capture the merger arbitrage spread (the difference between the current stock price and the expected value of the deal). Still, some large firms were reducing exposure in early 2025, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreasing its position by 16.9% and Hsbc Holdings PLC cutting theirs by 6.3%. This mixed activity shows some investors were taking profits or rotating out ahead of the final closing.

For a regional bank, a merger is the biggest decision. The board of The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) ultimately recommended the deal, believing it was in the best interest of shareholders, and the institutional investors with their large voting blocks agreed. The company's strong capital position, with a book value per share of $16.91 and available liquidity of $878.1 million as of March 31, 2025, made it an attractive merger target.

The Final Investor Value Proposition

The investor profile of The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) was one of a stable, income-generating regional bank, which is why it was a target. The company maintained a quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share through the first quarter of 2025, providing a steady return for its shareholders. The total market capitalization was around $269.22 million as of November 18, 2025, reflecting the final valuation before the shares were fully converted into ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. stock.

What this estimate hides is the strategic value of the merger. The investors who bought in were essentially betting on a successful integration, which is why the stock traded based on the ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. share price and the 0.5175 exchange ratio. The final outcome was a conversion into a larger, more diversified entity, shifting the investor's exposure from a Long Island-focused bank to a broader regional player.

If you want to dig into the core health of the bank that made it an attractive target, you should read Breaking Down The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Here is a snapshot of the final reported 2025 Q1 financials, which underpinned the final valuation:

The next step for former The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) shareholders is simple: Monitor the performance of ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (CNOB), as you are now an owner in the combined entity.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

You need to understand that The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC) is no longer a standalone investment; its story culminated in a merger that defined the 2025 fiscal year. The company was officially delisted on June 2, 2025, after merging into ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. (CNOB).

Investor sentiment leading up to the closing was positive, but it was a sentiment focused on the acquisition premium and the stable income stream, not on organic growth. The stock offered a juicy dividend yield of about 6.5% in early 2025, which made it a classic income-investor holding, especially when it traded at a discount-to-book value.

The core investment thesis for major shareholders was simple: an undervalued regional bank with strong asset quality would eventually be acquired. This is the playbook for smaller banks (those below the $10 billion asset threshold) in a consolidating market. For example, institutional holders like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. held 132,425 shares valued at $1.64 million as of May 16, 2025, demonstrating significant institutional interest right before the deal closed.

Recent Market Reactions: The Merger Premium

The stock market's reaction to The First of Long Island Corporation was entirely driven by the merger announcement and its subsequent closing. The deal, first announced in late 2024, was valued at approximately $284 million in the aggregate.

Here's the quick math on the exchange: each FLIC share was converted into 0.5175 shares of ConnectOne Bancorp common stock. This exchange ratio implied a value of about $12.40 per FLIC share when the deal was announced, based on ConnectOne Bancorp's stock price at the time. The stock's last traded price before delisting on May 30, 2025, was $11.87.

The market essentially priced The First of Long Island Corporation as an M&A target for months, with its final market capitalization before the merger sitting at approximately $269.22 million.

• Buy-side focus shifted from FLIC's operations to ConnectOne Bancorp's post-merger value.
• Former FLIC shareholders became owners in a larger entity with approximately $14 billion in total assets.
• The merger was a clear win for patient shareholders who held through the process.

You should consider your current position as an owner of ConnectOne Bancorp, not a former FLIC shareholder. If you want to dive deeper into the history and rationale behind this move, you can check out The First of Long Island Corporation (FLIC): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

Analyst Perspectives on the Combined Entity

Analyst perspectives on The First of Long Island Corporation as a standalone entity were overwhelmingly positive right up to the merger. For example, the consensus analyst rating was a 'Buy' as of October 31, 2025, with an average 12-month price target of $16.56. This target suggested a significant upside of 39.39% from the stock's trading range at the time, which is a strong signal of perceived undervaluation.

What this estimate hides is that the price target was likely based on a pre-merger valuation model that anticipated a higher offer or a significant earnings rebound. The bank's Q1 2025 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.17 missed the consensus estimate of $0.22, but the book value per share remained strong at $16.91 as of March 31, 2025.

The real focus for analysts now is the accretive nature of the deal for ConnectOne Bancorp. The combined company is expected to deliver a return on average tangible common equity of approximately 14% in 2025, adjusted for cost savings. That's a solid return for a regional bank. Your action now is to evaluate ConnectOne Bancorp's performance against these new, higher-scale metrics.

Here is a snapshot of the final, pre-merger financial health of The First of Long Island Corporation in the first quarter of 2025:

The investment profile of The First of Long Island Corporation was defintely one of a value-oriented, income-generating regional bank destined for consolidation. The merger was the final chapter, turning FLIC shares into a stake in a larger, more diversified regional player.