Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 1,369 Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL)

Legato Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,369 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Western Alliance Bancorporation were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Western Alliance Bancorporation in the first quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Western Alliance Bancorporation by 246.1% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO J. Kelly Jr. Ardrey sold 2,116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.95, for a total transaction of $160,710.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,344. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO J. Kelly Jr. Ardrey sold 2,116 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.95, for a total transaction of $160,710.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,344. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen Russell Curley sold 5,070 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.43, for a total value of $387,500.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,806,356.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Stock Performance

Western Alliance Bancorporation stock opened at $80.44 on Wednesday. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.81 and a fifty-two week high of $83.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.45.

Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $771.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $737.97 million. Western Alliance Bancorporation had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Western Alliance Bancorporation will post 7.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Alliance Bancorporation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Western Alliance Bancorporation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAL has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $74.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Western Alliance Bancorporation from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.27.

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.