Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,245 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $12,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,896,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,019,000 after purchasing an additional 74,956 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,883,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,369,000 after buying an additional 81,238 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $162,701,000 after buying an additional 120,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 609,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,954,000 after buying an additional 95,173 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $77.71 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.90. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $53.75 and a fifty-two week high of $98.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAL has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $103.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.