Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Position Boosted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAL. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,056,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,167,000 after buying an additional 1,246,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,940,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 489.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,333,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,431 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,430,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,971,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,724,000 after purchasing an additional 880,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WAL shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.60.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WAL opened at $55.46 on Thursday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $11.35 and a 52-week high of $70.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.32. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.47.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.97 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is 22.63%.

Western Alliance Bancorporation 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.