State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires New Stake in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 69,877 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,117,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.09% of WaFd at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of WaFd by 42.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in WaFd by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 75,005 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in shares of WaFd by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 36.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WAFD. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price objective on shares of WaFd in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.90.

WaFd Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WaFd stock opened at $31.65 on Wednesday. WaFd, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.75 and a twelve month high of $34.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.49.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.01). WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%.The company had revenue of $188.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.36 million. Equities research analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $178,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,199,876.35. This represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brent J. Beardall purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $101,100. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Company Profile

Washington Federal, Inc, doing business as WaFd Bank, is a publicly traded bank holding company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through its subsidiary, WaFd Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals, small-to-medium enterprises, and commercial clients. Established in 1917 as Ballard Savings & Loan in Seattle, the institution expanded over decades to serve customers across the Western United States under the Washington Federal name and has operated as a public company since the early 1980s.

WaFd Bank’s core offerings encompass deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, alongside consumer and commercial lending products.