PAX Financial Group LLC Sells 5,544 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

PAX Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,544 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Dale Gibbons acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.00 per share, for a total transaction of $308,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 300,358 shares in the company, valued at $23,127,566. This trade represents a 1.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WAL shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on 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. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.53.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WAL opened at $78.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $57.05 and a fifty-two week high of $98.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $82.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.30.

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. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $718.00 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 20.77%.

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.