Arizona State Retirement System Buys 720 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,758,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,339,000 after buying an additional 824,636 shares during the period. Cincinnati Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 1st quarter worth $46,538,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,112,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,165,000 after acquiring an additional 717,242 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $670,170,000 after acquiring an additional 395,101 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO J. Kelly Jr. Ardrey sold 2,116 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.95, for a total value of $160,710.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,344. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at $335,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,265 shares of company stock worth $1,700,391. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL stock opened at $78.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.44. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $38.81 and a 12 month high of $85.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.04. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $771.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $737.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is 21.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $62.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.27.

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.