Raymond James & Associates Sells 56,256 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Rating) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 388,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,256 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.08% of Valley National Bancorp worth $4,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eaton Vance Management increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 184,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $266,000. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 84,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 22,964 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $1,532,000. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $344,000. 54.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $7.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.93. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.39 and a one year high of $13.07.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $490.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.58 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 23.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 38.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.50 to $9.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valley National Bancorp news, Director Marc J. Lenner purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.93 per share, for a total transaction of $54,650.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 93,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,023,813.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Marc J. Lenner purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.93 per share, with a total value of $54,650.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 93,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,023,813.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Avner Mendelson purchased 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.52 per share, for a total transaction of $40,522.72. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 134,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,635.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 14,127 shares of company stock worth $195,783. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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Valley National Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Lending, Commercial Lending, Investment Management, and Corporate and Other Adjustments. The Consumer Lending segment consists of residential mortgage loans, automobile loans and home equity loans, as well as wealth management and insurance services.