Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given New $16.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.23.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $14.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,784,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,359,862. The stock has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.04. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $8.82 and a 52 week high of $14.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.89 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $1,225,870.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,821.18. This represents a 58.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total value of $372,991.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,577.08. This trade represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.