Raymond James & Associates Sells 30,472 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,472 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,831,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,339 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,427,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,856,000 after acquiring an additional 356,880 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 14.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,116,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,346,000 after buying an additional 3,008,420 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 11.6% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 18,703,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,820,000 after buying an additional 1,941,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 7.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,025,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,499,000 after buying an additional 920,140 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $7.42 on Tuesday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.39 and a 52 week high of $11.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on VLY shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.67.

Valley National Bancorp Profile

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.