Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) Shares Purchased by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Waterstone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBF) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,220 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,832 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Waterstone Financial worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Waterstone Financial by 73.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,913 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 21,902 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Waterstone Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,213 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 5,226 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waterstone Financial by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,773 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Waterstone Financial by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. 62.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Waterstone Financial news, CFO Mark Raymond Gerke sold 2,738 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.14, for a total transaction of $38,715.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 30,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $428,922.76. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Patrick S. Lawton sold 37,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.03, for a total value of $526,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,307.93. The trade was a 43.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Waterstone Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Waterstone Financial Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ WSBF opened at $12.62 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.58. Waterstone Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $11.61 and a one year high of $16.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $243.82 million, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.71.

Waterstone Financial (NASDAQ:WSBF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter. Waterstone Financial had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The company had revenue of $29.67 million during the quarter.

Waterstone Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. Waterstone Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.82%.

About Waterstone Financial

Waterstone Financial, Inc operates as a bank holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB that provides various financial services to customers in southeastern Wisconsin, the United States. It operates in two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The Community Banking segment offers consumer and business banking products and services, such as deposit and transactional solutions, including checking accounts, online banking and bill pay services, money transfer services, as well as credit, debit, and pre-paid cards; investable funds solutions comprising savings, money market deposits, individual retirement accounts, and certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, real estate financing, business loans, and business lines of credit; and fixed and variable annuities, insurance products, and trust and investment management accounts.