Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 640,933 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,612,156 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 640,933 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.49% of Valley National Bancorp worth $68,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,164,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,170,000 after purchasing an additional 300,385 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 384.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,970,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,276,000 after purchasing an additional 7,118,044 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,101,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,829 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,501.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,431,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $19,399,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY stock opened at $8.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.48.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.67.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.