Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 32,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,695,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company's stock.

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Western Alliance Bancorporation Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE WAL traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.71. 635,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,166,134. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.85. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a twelve month low of $53.75 and a twelve month high of $98.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.90.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.03. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 15.49%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Western Alliance Bancorporation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.