First Trust Advisors LP Has $10.04 Million Stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,108,485 shares of the company's stock after selling 323,960 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.22% of Valley National Bancorp worth $10,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $453,020,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204,651 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,059,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,821,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,122,000 after purchasing an additional 656,200 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,612,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,966,000 after purchasing an additional 640,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,211,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,276,000 after purchasing an additional 534,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

VLY opened at $8.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.44. Valley National Bancorp has a twelve month low of $6.47 and a twelve month high of $11.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 1.06.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $479.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $483.98 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.77%.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at $5,056,492.29. This trade represents a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $12.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.67.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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.

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