Insider Selling: Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) EVP Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

VLY stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.28. The stock had a trading volume of 10,461,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,107,965. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 1.12.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VLY shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.67.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.