Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys 1,579 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Busey Bank bought a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $641,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,725,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,510,000 after buying an additional 876,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAL. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.60.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

WAL opened at $55.46 on Thursday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1-year low of $11.35 and a 1-year high of $70.23. The company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.02). Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.63%.

About Western Alliance Bancorporation

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.