Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 21,931 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 50.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,931 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 43,364 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 16,529 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 103,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 12,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $543,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VLY. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler raised Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY opened at $8.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.55 and a 200 day moving average of $9.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.47 and a 52-week high of $11.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.77%.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.