AE Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

AE Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $2,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $670,170,000 after acquiring an additional 395,101 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1,706.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 29,188 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc raised its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 12.4% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 133,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,421,000 after purchasing an additional 14,734 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 166.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 32,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,128,000 after buying an additional 20,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,633,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,603,000 after buying an additional 20,254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $62.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.07.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WAL opened at $87.69 on Monday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $88.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.06. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total transaction of $387,500.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,806,356.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO J. Kelly Jr. Ardrey sold 2,116 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,344. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total value of $387,500.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,718 shares in the company, valued at $2,806,356.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,265 shares of company stock worth $1,700,391. 2.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

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.