Cathy Cooper Sells 5,300 Shares of WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) Stock

WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) EVP Cathy Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,876.35. This trade represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

WaFd Price Performance

Shares of WAFD stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $33.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 634,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,015. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.86. WaFd, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $34.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $188.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.36 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 17.45%. As a group, equities analysts predict that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is 37.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAFD. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in WaFd by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 22,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,783 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in WaFd by 271.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 30,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 22,499 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WaFd by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 48,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 10,092 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 9.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 246,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 20,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 862.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 62,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAFD has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of WaFd from $33.50 to $30.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on WaFd from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of WaFd in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $34.00 price target on shares of WaFd in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.90.

About WaFd

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.