BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 55.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 168,295 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,059,328 shares of the company's stock worth $154,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088,466 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,002,161 shares of the company's stock worth $453,020,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204,651 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $31,490,000. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $27,180,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,663,209 shares of the company's stock worth $259,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VLY shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.55.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ VLY traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.70. 8,485,060 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,460,757. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.05.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $479.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $483.98 million. 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 company posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 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.