Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) Shares Bought by Nicholas Investment Partners LP

Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 174,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,639 shares during the period. Western Alliance Bancorporation makes up 1.3% of Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.16% of Western Alliance Bancorporation worth $14,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 96,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,090,000 after acquiring an additional 8,201 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $727,000. Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 417,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,842,000 after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 973.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 421,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,239,000 after buying an additional 382,513 shares during the period. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $95.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.38.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

NYSE WAL opened at $79.89 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.22. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.30. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $56.70 and a 1 year high of $98.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $790.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.25 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 15.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is currently 20.85%.

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.