135,860 Shares in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 135,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,168,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the second quarter worth about $926,898,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,746,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,350,000 after purchasing an additional 777,369 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,450,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $542,286,000 after buying an additional 470,492 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,016,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $521,710,000 after buying an additional 197,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,813,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $270,203,000 after buying an additional 36,534 shares in the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on WAL shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $95.00 target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $79.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of WAL opened at $78.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.55. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $65.82 and a twelve month high of $97.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36. The firm had revenue of $995.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.53 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 13.40%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 18.92%.

Insider Transactions at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, CAO Ben Mucha sold 5,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $481,626.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,485 shares in the company, valued at $282,285. This represents a 63.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.