Norges Bank Makes New $137.29 Million Investment in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,760,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $137,289,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,076,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,821,000 after buying an additional 339,758 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,604,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,954,000 after buying an additional 26,995 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,313,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,394,000 after acquiring an additional 20,704 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,035,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,755,000 after acquiring an additional 104,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,971,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,715,000 after acquiring an additional 62,202 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $95.00 price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.53.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $81.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.60. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 12 month low of $57.05 and a 12 month high of $95.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $718.00 million for the quarter. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 12.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 20.77%.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, CFO Dale Gibbons acquired 4,000 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.00 per share, with a total value of $308,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 300,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,127,566. The trade was a 1.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.75% of the stock is owned by company 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.