WaFd, Inc. $WAFD Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAFD) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,412,268 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,736 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.54% of WaFd worth $269,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAFD. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in WaFd by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 493,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,910,000 after acquiring an additional 191,855 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of WaFd by 427.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 73,429 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 59,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WaFd in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,766,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of WaFd by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

WaFd Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ WAFD opened at $30.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.90. WaFd, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.75 and a 12-month high of $38.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.95.

WaFd (NASDAQ:WAFD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $186.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.47 million. WaFd had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 15.57%. Equities research analysts expect that WaFd, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

WaFd Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. WaFd’s payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WAFD shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on WaFd from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens lifted their target price on WaFd from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on WaFd from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on WaFd from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised WaFd from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.

WaFd Profile

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.