Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,579 Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 20.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,722,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,832,000 after purchasing an additional 636,577 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 0.7% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,813,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,764,000 after buying an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 10.4% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,802,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,899,000 after buying an additional 169,244 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,350,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,778,000 after acquiring an additional 45,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 961,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,396,000 after acquiring an additional 116,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAL opened at $95.73 on Tuesday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a 1 year low of $47.60 and a 1 year high of $98.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.08 and its 200 day moving average is $75.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $833.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.40 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 14.66%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Western Alliance Bancorporation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Alliance Bancorporation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.73.

Insider Activity at Western Alliance Bancorporation

In related news, Director Robert P. Latta sold 2,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $247,919.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,634. This represents a 42.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.