Arizona State Retirement System Has $1.31 Million Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 120,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,297 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 198.1% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 8,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 73.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $93,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $4,460,136.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays started coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.67.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

VLY stock opened at $7.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 1.09. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.39 and a 1-year high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $449.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 14.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.96%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

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.