New York State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,093 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $1,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,418,472 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347,921 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,896,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,019,000 after acquiring an additional 74,956 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,883,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,369,000 after acquiring an additional 81,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,701,000 after acquiring an additional 120,729 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL opened at $87.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $53.75 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.69.

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 for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.