Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) Shares Bought by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,139 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Westamerica Bancorporation were worth $2,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WABC. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Westamerica Bancorporation by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. 81.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total transaction of $746,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares in the company, valued at $14,362,277.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David L. Payne sold 15,000 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.75, for a total transaction of $746,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 288,689 shares in the company, valued at $14,362,277.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David L. Payne sold 10,000 shares of Westamerica Bancorporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $495,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 268,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,302,792.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,000 shares of company stock worth $2,213,458 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Westamerica Bancorporation Stock Performance

NASDAQ WABC opened at $45.62 on Wednesday. Westamerica Bancorporation has a one year low of $35.52 and a one year high of $57.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.56.

Westamerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ:WABC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $80.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.03 million. Westamerica Bancorporation had a net margin of 49.39% and a return on equity of 23.61%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westamerica Bancorporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westamerica Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Westamerica Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WABC has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Westamerica Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Westamerica Bancorporation Profile

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.