Arizona State Retirement System Buys 231 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WAL. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,472 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,921 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6,342.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 514,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,522,000 after purchasing an additional 506,778 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,230,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,386,000. 79.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $72.87 on Tuesday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12-month low of $53.75 and a 12-month high of $98.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.35. The company has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 15.49%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAL shares. UBS Group started coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.