William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $214.33 Million Holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,565,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,433 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $214,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $110.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Alliance Bancorporation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.07.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of WAL opened at $77.31 on Monday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a one year low of $53.75 and a one year high of $98.10. The company has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.19.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 13.14%. Research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 21.41%.

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.