Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in WaFd, Inc. $WAFD

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,051,670 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 276,555 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of WaFd worth $274,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in 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. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in WaFd by 604.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of WaFd by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WaFd by 712.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WaFd news, EVP Cathy E. Cooper sold 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $178,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brent J. Beardall acquired 3,000 shares of WaFd stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.85 per share, for a total transaction of $50,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,100. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WaFd Trading Down 4.4%

NASDAQ:WAFD opened at $31.16 on Friday. WaFd, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.75 and a 52-week high of $34.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.86.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share 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 net margin of 17.45% and a return on equity of 8.67%. On average, equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. WaFd’s payout ratio is currently 37.37%.

WaFd 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.