South Dakota Investment Council Buys 8,000 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 83,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $7,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WAL. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,488,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,472 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 93.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,793,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347,921 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 6,342.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 514,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,522,000 after acquiring an additional 506,778 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,230,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,386,000. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE WAL opened at $87.10 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $53.75 and a 1-year high of $98.10.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.07.

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.