Insider Selling: Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Director Sells 16,451 Shares of Stock

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $127,001.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,521.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $7.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,578,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,822,746. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.97 and a 1-year high of $11.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $890.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Comerica Bank boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 6.2% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 295,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,356,000 after acquiring an additional 17,282 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth $247,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $98,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 7.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 228,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 15,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $171,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VLY shares. StockNews.com raised Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.33.

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.