Sei Investments Co. Sells 23,852 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 25.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,852 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.06% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $4,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 47,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,154,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 176.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 594,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,110,000 after purchasing an additional 379,245 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 11,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 166.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 32,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 20,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petiole USA ltd grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Petiole USA ltd now owns 67,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.87.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAL opened at $83.76 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $38.81 and a 12 month high of $88.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.36. The stock has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.62 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.04. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $771.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $737.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.57%.

Insider Activity at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,634. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total transaction of $904,261.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $650,843.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,265 shares of company stock worth $1,700,391 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

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.