Fmr LLC Grows Holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Fmr LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 93.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,347,921 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 2.54% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $241,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,722,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,832,000 after acquiring an additional 636,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,813,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,764,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,802,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,899,000 after purchasing an additional 169,244 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,350,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,778,000 after buying an additional 45,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 13.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 961,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,396,000 after buying an additional 116,322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $247,919.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $335,634. The trade was a 42.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WAL shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $83.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WAL opened at $93.61 on Monday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $50.56 and a 1-year high of $98.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $833.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.40 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 14.66% and a return on equity of 13.16%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.46%.

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.