Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Stock Price Down 4.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) was down 4.5% during trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $105.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Western Alliance Bancorporation traded as low as $81.66 and last traded at $81.71. Approximately 456,914 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,308,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.53.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WAL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,634. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total value of $904,261.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $650,843.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,634. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,539,681 in the last 90 days. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 29,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 58.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 136.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.89 and a 200-day moving average of $70.95. The firm has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 22.84%.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation operates as the bank holding company for Western Alliance Bank that provides various banking products and related services primarily in Arizona, California, and Nevada. It operates through Commercial and Consumer Related segments. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as fixed-rate and fixed maturity certificates of deposit accounts; demand deposits; and treasury management and residential mortgage products and services.