New York State Teachers Retirement System Takes $1.58 Million Position in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,577,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $670,170,000 after acquiring an additional 395,101 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $328,165,000 after purchasing an additional 717,242 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,722,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $233,832,000 after buying an additional 636,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,813,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $176,764,000 after buying an additional 20,876 shares during the period. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.9% during the first quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,641,660 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $105,378,000 after buying an additional 91,535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.73.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAL traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.87. 1,049,806 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,320,843. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.20 and a fifty-two week high of $96.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.44.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $833.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.40 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a net margin of 14.66% and a return on equity of 13.16%. As a group, analysts predict that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Western Alliance Bancorporation's payout ratio is presently 23.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total value of $904,261.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,977 shares in the company, valued at $650,843.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Western Alliance Bancorporation news, insider Barbara Kennedy sold 11,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.59, for a total transaction of $904,261.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $650,843.43. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total value of $247,919.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at $335,634. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

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.