Soros Fund Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,000,000 Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,180,000. Soros Fund Management LLC owned about 0.59% of Valley National Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,490,000. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 66,588 shares of the company's stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 5,181 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,101,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,278,000 after buying an additional 1,327,829 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 41.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,494,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 439,831 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $8.90. 9,332,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,136,088. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $8.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $479.67 million during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given 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 4.94%. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VLY shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.67.

Valley National Bancorp 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.