Nicholas Investment Partners LP Has $9.04 Million Stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation $WAL

Nicholas Investment Partners LP decreased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,358 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $9,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,450,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $542,286,000 after acquiring an additional 470,492 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,016,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $521,710,000 after buying an additional 197,854 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,777,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,574,000 after buying an additional 102,943 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% in 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 buying an additional 81,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,288,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,436,000 after buying an additional 36,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. National Alliance Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Shares of WAL opened at $83.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.34. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 52 week low of $65.82 and a 52 week high of $97.23.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $968.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $944.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ben Mucha sold 5,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $481,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,485 shares in the company, valued at $282,285. This represents a 63.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Company Profile

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.