Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $20.87 Million Stock Holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 730,125 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,439 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.90% of WaFd worth $20,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in WaFd by 3.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 461,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,192,000 after acquiring an additional 13,972 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WaFd during the 4th quarter worth about $1,766,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in WaFd by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of WaFd by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of WaFd by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 469,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,143,000 after purchasing an additional 283,953 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WaFd Stock Performance

NASDAQ WAFD opened at $29.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. WaFd, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.75 and a fifty-two week high of $38.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 0.84.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.47 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 15.13%. On average, equities analysts forecast that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. WaFd’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WAFD. Wall Street Zen cut WaFd from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on WaFd from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of WaFd in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WaFd presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

About WaFd

WaFd, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Washington Federal Bank that provides lending, depository, insurance, and other banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including business and personal checking accounts, and term certificates of deposit, as well as money market accounts and passbook savings accounts.