It certainly has been a positive couple of weeks for the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price.
During this time, the banking giant's shares have risen almost 7% to $26.16.
This leaves Westpac's shares trading within sight of their 52-week of $27.12.
Why is the Westpac share price on form?
There have been a few catalysts for the rise in the Westpac share price over the last couple of weeks.
One of those was the sale of its Australian Life Insurance business to TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia for $900 million. This deal also includes an exclusive 20-year strategic alliance for the provision of life insurance products to Westpac's Australian customers, which will mean ongoing payments to the bank.
This sale was part of the company's strategy of simplifying the bank.
What else is supporting its shares?
Another development that gave the Westpac share price a boost was the release of the full year results of rival Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).
With Commonwealth Bank beating expectations with its earnings and share buyback, investor sentiment in the banking sector was given a major lift.
What else?
Finally, the Westpac share price was given a lift from the release of a bullish broker note out of Morgans last week.
According to the note, the broker has retained its add rating and $29.50 price target on the bank's shares.
Morgans notes that the sale of Westpac's life insurance business has further increased the bank's surplus capital. Its analysts believe this give the bank significant capital management potential in the near term.
Based on the current Westpac share price of $26.16, Morgans' price target implies potential upside of 13% before dividends. This stretches to almost 18% if you include the 5% fully franked dividend it is expecting from Australia's oldest bank in FY 2022.
