Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) CAO Ben Mucha Sells 5,946 Shares of Stock

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) CAO Ben Mucha sold 5,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $481,626.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,285. This trade represents a 63.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

WAL stock opened at $81.67 on Thursday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52-week low of $65.82 and a 52-week high of $97.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.90. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.34.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.74. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.58% and a net margin of 17.03%.The business had revenue of $968.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $944.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s payout ratio is presently 19.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on WAL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Western Alliance Bancorporation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. TD Cowen downgraded Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Institutional Trading of Western Alliance Bancorporation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,674,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,655,000 after acquiring an additional 58,535 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,339,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7,920.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 315,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,535,000 after acquiring an additional 311,689 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,394,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,670,000 after acquiring an additional 81,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 36,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 10,887 shares during the last quarter. 79.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

Western Alliance Bancorporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Through its principal subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, the company provides a range of banking services to commercial clients, entrepreneurs and real estate developers. As one of the largest regional banks in the western United States, it focuses on relationship-driven banking solutions tailored to niche industries and growing businesses.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products, treasury management and a variety of lending services.